Strike Witches: Reformed and Reloaded!
by Poke2201
Summary: Miyafuji Yoshika has lost all her magic, but her old squadron has called her up to Europe yet again.  What new adventure is she going to get into this time?
1. Return to Europe

It had been 6 months since then. Yoshika tossed and turned in her bed. She couldn't sleep. She lay on her futon just looking at the bright moon of that night.

_I won't be able to be a witch anymore… I saved multiple people, but the war still goes on…_

It was March 1946, and the 501st Joint Fighter Wing had been disbanded ever since that event. She had lost all her magic power fighting the Neuroi hive that had used Major Sakamoto as a shield generator back in Romagna.

_Heh. I guess it was the only way._

The events that unfolded right after were miraculous. Yoshika was given 3 medals and promoted to 1st Lieutenant of the Fuso Navy. The only thing the spoiled it all was the fact that no one she knew could be at the ceremony. Everyone still was part of their respective militaries, and they were reassigned to different areas of the world. The only person that was even close was Major Sakamoto, but she was busy training new witches at the time.

However unlike before Romagna where she didn't even get any mail from her squad mates, there was usually a new letter every month. It was usually from Lynette, but sometimes others also. Keeping up with them was kind of the only thing she could think of that reminded her of her days as a Witch. Yoshika looked at her hands.

_I probably shouldn't even try. But everyone's probably having so much fun right now._

Shirley and Lucchini were in Africa for a stint until recently, when Shirley was called to Karsland to help develop new Striker models. Lucchini decided that Africa was a bit boring, so she went with her. Perrine and Lynette were back in Gallia HQ; Lynette being a Radiowoman for HQ and Perrine in the field working on reconstructing war torn Gallia. They meet pretty often or so she said. Sanya and Elia returned to Suomus Air Base, and that was all she heard from them. Erica, Trude, and Minna went back to Karsland to help support their home country against Neuroi control.

Because she was the only one not doing anything, and because it was ingrained in her Yoshika started running as a pastime.

_Well I can't sleep anymore. Might as well start the day._

She got dressed and started to do her daily run. It was like drills back at the squadron headquarters, except she just ran around town for an hour or so.

When she passed by the base she glimpsed Mio coming out of the gates. She saw Yoshika and waved. Yoshika stopped in front of the gates.

"On your run for today Miyafuji?" Mio asked.

"Ah Sakamoto-san! Yes I am." Yoshika replied. Mio looked at her and smiled. Though as she looked at Yoshika's cheery face her mind was troubled.

_How could someone this young already lose all her magical prowess? Is that even possible? _

Mio tried to kill the awkward science. "How is everyone? Are they doing fine?"

"Yes they are Major Sakamoto. Shirley just got called to Karsland to help test the new striker models!"

"Oh wow, that's really cool! I haven't been able to contact them because of my duties. Send them my regards!"

"I will!" Yoshika ran off, leaving Mio alone with the sunrise. She looked at Miyafuji until she was no longer able to be seen, and walked off into the city. As she walked in, Mio kept replaying the moments Miyafuji used the "True Reppuzan" move on the Neuroi Hive and noticed something.

_I put a limiter on the sword to make sure if I wouldn't use up every last bit my magical power! _

Remembering that made Mio happy, but full of doubts.

_Is there a chance Miyafuji could become a Witch again? I need to talk to Anna about this. She's an old hag but at least she has enough experience to know the intricacies of magic. _

There was a conference in Romagna next month; it would probably be the best time to talk.

* * *

Yoshika got back around 6 am that morning. Her mom came outside.

"Hey Yoshika, there's someone here to see you."

She went inside. Inside the room she couldn't believe her eyes. A girl was sitting at the table, and had a very refined looked to her. But Yoshika noticed how 'squishy' she was and remembered everything.

"Lynette, is that you?" Yoshika couldn't believe it. "Why did you come to Fuso?"

"I came to deliver a letter from your father, and pick you and Major Sakamoto to go to the Conference in Romagna."

Lynette gave the letter to Yoshika. But Yoshika forgot about the letter and hugged her best friend that she hadn't seen in a while.

"U-U-Uh- Yoshika…" Lynette said quietly. She couldn't say it, she was happy to see her best friend also.

"What are you doing 1st Lieutenant Miyafuji?" Yoshika remembered that voice.

"Trude! What are you doing here?" asked a very surprised Yoshika.

A girl wearing a Karsland uniform came out of an adjacent room with a yellow haired girl.

"We're here to bring you and Major to Karsland."

Erica spoke, "The high command wants the 501st reformed immediately so we needed to bring _**everyone.**_"

Yoshika was flattered at the turn of events, but she remembered something important about this.

"I don't have any more magic though…."

Lynette shook her head.

"It's not a fighting duty; they just want all witch squadrons not in combat assignment at the moment going to Karsland!"

"Ohhh…"

Yoshika wanted to protest, but they were right, it's probably nothing.

"Commander Minna wants you there." Lynette said

Yoshika sighed. "Let's go then."

Her mom looked into the room. "Are you going to Europe again?"

"They want me to come back!" Yoshika said proudly.

Her mother sighed, shook her head, and smiled. "You are becoming more and more like your father everyday Yoshika."

Yoshika gathered her things in preparation for the trip. Then she remembered the letter. As she ran out of the room Yoshika ran into Lynette.

"Yoshika, are your hands attracted to my breasts or something?" Lynette said, looking very embarrassed.

"N-N-No! I just fell on you that's all!" It was pretty obvious Yoshika was embarrassed too.

They got up. "Here's the letter from your father."

"Why does he seem to send me letters every time I'm going to Europe?"

"I wish I knew…"

After that little episode the group was on their way to the navy base to pick up Mio.

"We're here for Major Sakamoto." Captain Barkhorn showed her Karsland ID.

The guard looked visibly surprised. "Wow, you guys are part of the 501st?" He was about to ask them something about it, but he saw his superior giving a disapproving look. "Oh- Uh- Where is- Ah! Major Sakamoto left for Romagna just about 30 minutes ago!"

"EHHH?"

Apparently Mio already knew of the 501st reforming and went ahead of the group.

They boarded the plane and got ready for the week long trip to Europe. It was a good time to catch up on everyone's lives.

"Hey Miyafuji did you hear about Shirley and Lucchini?" Lynette asked.

"I did, also, Sakamoto sends her congratulations!" Yoshika said.

"Lynette, how's Perrine?" Gertrude asked. Erica was sleeping on her shoulder.

"Oh... I actually don't know. We haven't talked in a while since Perrine was sent out to the capital city's ruins for a mission"

"What? What mission would that be?" Gertrude looked a bit confused.

"Karsland is still under Neuroi control right Trude?" Yoshika interrupted, unable to control her excitement

She looked at her a bit annoyed, but dismissed it and answered the question.

"Yeah, but we're using the results from the Yamato to help the ground forces."

"Perrine's mission is more of a goodwill thing that HQ keeps making her and other displaced nobles doing to rally support." Lynette said. She looked a bit annoyed.

"She's a tool for propaganda?" Gertrude exclaimed.

"Yes, they also banned her from making unnecessary conduct with us." Lynette said sadly.

"Are they letting her go for this?" Yoshika asked.

Lynette shook her head, "I don't even think that they even told her."

Gertrude sat there simmering in this information.

"Everyone else is going to be there though." Lynette said, desperately trying to change the subject.

"Ehh? I thought Sanya and Elia were in combat against Neuroi over Orussia!" Gertrude said.

Yoshika didn't even know that, but she assumed that everyone was in combat somewhere.

"But I guess being part of the 501st gives you special consideration." Gertrude said and smiled.

After a week in that plane the group got out in the border between Karsland and Gallia.

* * *

Mio on the other hand, had different plans before she met the group at Karsland. First was the stop in Romagna.

_I wonder if I can find Anna here… This plane seriously dropped me off too far from her place… _

Mio drove around for an hour before finding the iconic bridge to her island. The island looked the same, yet, there was something different.

There were girls on brooms having fun just past the bridge. What was especially weird was that boys were playing tag on them too.

_I have never seen a wizard before. It's pretty interesting._

"Come back here you kids!" An old powerful voice shouted. The kids flew off in random directions as Anna sped by. Within 5 minutes Anna had collected them all and confiscated their brooms.

"Now for your punishment, go get the water without brooms." She said sternly. As the kids walked off without their brooms she looked at Mio and sighed. "I'm getting too old for this Mio. Do you want to train them one day?"

"Hahahaha, I should shouldn't I? But I'm here on a research mission."

Anna looked surprised. "Oh? And what brings you to this old witch's home?"

Mio quickly got to business. "Have you heard of what happened at Venezia?"

Anna thought for a moment. "Ahhh, I now know why you are here. Come in, come in, it's a long way from Fuso you know."

Mio walked with her to her farmhouse on the island. Mio followed her inside the house and looked around. It was a normal house, lacking in luxuries but full of history and magical artifacts.

"Ahh this gives me memories." Mio said out loud as she entered.

"Ha, that's not going to get you out of trouble for calling me an Old Hag last year."

"How did you- never mind. Anyway, is there a way to help Miyafuji?"

"Sheesh, that Miyafuji is a problem isn't she." Anna chuckled as she scanned the bookshelves. "Ah here it is." She brought out a book.

From the looks of it was an old and dusty one and the title was impossible to decipher. It opened itself to a page and Anna started reading from it.

"Well first of all, a Witch will always be a Witch no matter what happens. The well may go dry but it still remains. It's actually one of the first laws of magic. Now Mio, tell me, has Miyafuji actually tried magic?"

"Not exactly. She seems to have resigned to the fate that there is no way she will get her magic back."

Anna smiled. "Well, there's two ways to know if she has magic still. The first is making her fly on a broom. Remember what I said about the well going dry? It's possible that she just burned through almost all of her magic using that godforsaken sword you made, but still it was a good idea to put a limiter."

Mio frowned. "I had to! Otherwise it would have drained me clean after a powerful strike!"

"Yes, and that could have possibly helped Miyafuji in the long run. If there is any chance any power was saved 6 months ago, she will again be able to fight, but not with the same amount of power as before. She pushed her power to her limits, and she burned out somewhat. If she did lose ALL magical power, she would have died."

Mio thought for a moment. It made sense, because most elderly witches can still do powerful things. But it still doesn't answer her question.

"And in the worst case scenario?" Mio feared what could be the treatment for this.

The book Anna held turned a few pages. "In the worst case scenario, a witch has not lost her magical power but the means of utilizing it. Her 'magical engine' is dead."

"Is there a way to fix it though?"

The book turned a few more pages. Anna stared at the page for a few seconds then glanced up at her former pupil.

"There is but, tell me, how much do you want Miyafuji to fly again?"

Mio thought for a moment.

_She's so young and her life was changed because of the Strike Witches. It is fair for her never to take to the skies again? She wouldn't be able to protect anyone in her current state._

"My reason is for one thing. I want her to protect as many people as she can."

"Even at the risks of the spell to save her magic?" Anna implored.

Mio was visibly taken aback by this. Risks?

"What?"

"I said, are you ready to risk anything to save Miyafuji's magic!" Anna's face was serious and strict.

A heavy tension hung in the air. Then Mio made her response.

"I am ready to do what it takes." She confirmed that she was ready despite the risks, both to Anna and her heart.

"Listen closely because the risks are already high as it is. This technique is built to start up the 'magical engine' but it is at the cost of another user's magical engine. Many witches in the old days would do this to help younger witches get a head start on their enemies. I will remind you again; this will render you unable to use magic again."

"An equivalent exchange huh… It seems fitting." Mio mused as she thought about it.

"I won't give you the spell now, but when you feel it is the right time to exchange, return here and I shall help you perform the technique."

Mio left the house knowing there was hope for Miyafuji.

Anna ran out after her.

"Mio I need to tell you something about Miyafuji." Mio looked at her. "When I was training her, she was very particularly powerful in her magic output. I assumed it was due to lack of control. But incredibly, near the end of my training, she still outputted that much power when she first started. Mio you must have known this already, but she has the potential to be one of the most powerful witches in your generat— no. She could become one of the most powerful witches _**in history.**_"

"Anna, I knew this from the beginning, but the extent of her power is that great?" Mio exclaimed

"Yes and the special part about it is that she is pure. Her magic ability is one for good, and not evil. But I must warn you, do not let this revelation sway you. This is all up to Miyafuji. If the witch does not want to cooperate, then the technique will fail, and the person giving up their magic will still lose their ability to use it."

Mio bade goodbye to Anna and started making the trip to the plane where she would meet up with her old squadron in Karsland.

But remembering Anna's words, Mio had a final goal.

_If it comes to it, I will sacrifice myself in the hope that Miyafuji can protect more and more people, when I could not._

* * *

The plane landed with a resounding thump in the middle of grassland. It was an airbase just a few miles from Karsland HQ.

At the airbase there was a familiar person waiting for them at the gates. She had red hair and the aura of a commander.

"Commander Minna!" Yoshika shouted as they got off.

"Miyafuji, you made it." Minna said politely.

"Hartmann wake up!" Barkhorn said to a sleeping Erica.

"Forty more minutes…" she said sleepily.

"We're at the airbase already!"

Erica got up and looked around.

"Oh, so we are."

"…" Barkhorn stood speechless as Erica walked out of the plane.

Minna started talking, "Major Sakamoto has not made it yet, she had other business to take care of in Romagna, and so we should go to HQ right now."

Yoshika wondered aloud, "What does HQ need us for anyway, aren't we disbanded?"

"I actually don't know…" Minna said sadly.

The squadron was met with a major military presence.

Gertrude looked a bit annoyed. "Now why do we need Tanks protecting us when our Striker units are in the vehicles next to us?"

Minna pressed her lips and replied, "Just do what High Command wants Captain Barkhorn."

The ride was short, but the escort was truly unnecessary.

The squad met up with Sanya and Elia in the Hangar.

"Sanya! Elia! How long have you been here?" Yoshika said.

"Oh not very long. We just flew in from Suomus, and had a chat with Shirley and Lucchini." Elia said.

From the looks of the map of the base, the Hangar was literally next door to the High Command's briefing room.

Minna mused, "Do they finally trust the Strike Witches now?" and started smiling. Everyone laughed.

As they walked up to the door Commander Minna announced, "Alright everyone, the meeting starts in 5 minutes. Also, where exactly are Shirley and Lucchini anyway?"

"They went to go get some snacks from the chefs." Elia pointed at the kitchen where Shirley and Lucchini came out holding a big box of food.

"Ah! Yoshika! Everyone!" Lucchini dropped the bags and ran up to Yoshika. She grabbed Yoshika to check her "growth".

"Ah…" Yoshika tried to squirm away from Lucchini's grip. "Stop it…"

Lucchini pouted. "You didn't grow any at all."

Minna frowned, "Is now really the best time?

Lucchini ran back to the box she dropped and started eating. Predictably, Erica drifted to Lucchini and started eating the sweets.

"Hartmann!" Gertrude dragged Erica back to her normal position.

Sighing, Minna faced the door. "Alright 501st , it's time to begin the meeting. In formation now."

The girls entered the door into the High Command's Briefing Room.

* * *

**Authors Notes: Ah, I'm back again, this time with a totally new story. I've been having computer problems, so TOWOSH(The One Wish of Suzumiya Haruhi) is on a short hiatus until I can fix them! Don't worry I have not forsaken the story yet! **

**This story is really after ATC's Strike Witches 2 Anime adaptation. As I have not gotten any of the light novels, its possible some of the characterization is wrong or certain things could quite possibly be wrong. But the sad ending to Miyafuji sort of compelled me to write this story, and now I'm coming out with this. This story will be a lot more serious, and the little fanservicey bits will be far and few in between. Something I really felt that could be a problem is Miyafuji becoming that super powerful witch and yadda yadda, its a little cliche. But who knows. I would like to note that this story will be updated if not more often than my other story due to my love of the Military genre. Also I love the reviews, and it really helps me make this story better!**

**If you have time after reading this story, go read this one as well which is made by me!**

**The One Wish of Suzumiya**


	2. Assault Mage

Entering the Briefing room was sort of a new thing for Yoshika, as she had never been in this position before. Actually no, it was fairer to say almost everyone but Minna was uncomfortable.

The generals looked at the approaching girls, and then started writing down things. One of them stood up, his cap had 5 stars and his face had the look of a war veteran. His posture shows confidence and authority, and that was before he even talked. Needless to say, the girls were pretty afraid of him and were uncertain of what actually was going to happen next.

"501st Joint Fighter Wing, the "Strike Witches", am I correct?" His voice had a certain drawl to it, it was gruff and husky, yet it sounded friendly.

Minna stepped forward. "Yes sir, Lieutenant Colonel Wilcke speaking. "

"Lieutenant Colonel, I am General Eisen, the top commander of all forces in the European mainland. Now before I even begin, I need to tell you that in anticipation of your squad's participation in this, I have forwarded promotions for each member in the squadron. So in a few minutes, I will be talking to Colonel Wilcke."

The squad nearly went into an uproar. Everyone was amazed and surprised at this revelation and kept it down as well as they could. They were still under Military ethics after all.

Yoshika was more confused rather than amazed or surprised.

_Wait… If I was a 1__st__ Lieutenant… What am I now? What was that rank after that? Admiral? Master Chief Petty Officer?_

"If you want to celebrate be my guest, and please sit down in the chairs we provided ladies. We are going to be here for a while."

Yoshika looked at the General in an incredulous manner.

_Who exactly is this man?_

Eisen noticed that there wasn't going to be celebrating for a while, so he motioned to the sitting Generals next to him. "Generals please get into the seats around the room. I can't have you looking like owls in front of the 501st. They are our guests, so please, act like you are hosts."

The Generals surrounding Eisen looked at him, as if they couldn't believe what he said. A slight murmur was about to sneak out, but was crushed by the heavy tension that was created by their inactivity. Eisen looked a bit annoyed.

"Did I not just say _**move**_?" He said in a dark voice. The Generals got up and begrudgingly sat down behind the 501st. He smiled, "Now that's better!"

Minna and Barkhorn mentally face palmed. As the Generals walked to their new seats they thought simultaneously:

_Did Eisen just backhand Karsland's finest Generals?_

"Okay now that you are all in your seats, I would like to state the reason you are here today. As you may have known, the 501st is the best at taking out Neuroi. There are many others who are just as good, but none of them do it at the same precision and efficiency that you do it at. Now our next move against the Neuroi would be to take out their hives around Karsland and Orussia. But however, we are going to be going up against heavy Neuroi ground forces. Do you see where I am going with this?"

Everyone nodded, but only Minna, Gertrude, and Lynette understood what he was talking about.

"Strike Witches are useless against ground forces, your striker units are fast, but your weapons aren't built to fight against ground Neuroi - Especially large numbers of them firing at you at the same time. So we have decided to create a whole new division of 'Striker'. This whole new division will be called 'Assault Mage'. Also, because I seriously do not want to get confused when the fighting begins, all strikers will be put into a special new branch of the Military called the 'Striker Division'."

Yoshika thought to herself,

_Not very creative…_

Eisen continued with his speech. "As the 501st is well known throughout the world as a reputable striker squadron, I have decided that you girls are going to be leading this new military division."

Half the girls dropped their jaws, dumbfounded at the revelation. Yoshika was taken aback a bit due to the whole situation, but soon accepted her fate.

Gertrude interjected, "Are you saying we have to lead a whole military division into battle?"

Eisen laughed at the nonsensical response. "No no, instead, you girls will be training them!"

The dumbfounded girls fell in their chairs. Minna was visibly disturbed, and with good reason. How could any of them train recruits with seriousness?

"General, if I may interrupt your train of thought for a moment." Minna asked sternly.

"Why of course, ask anything you want."

"Do you really expect girls ranging from 13-20 training girls the same age as them?"

Eisen thought for a moment.

"I never said they would _**just **_be girls…" he thought aloud.

Minna shouted back, "WHAT? THERE'S GOING TO BE BOYS IN THIS TOO?"

Eisen looked at her with ferocious eyes. "Colonel, this is a war. There isn't enough talent for just one gender for this to work. There are male wizards out there, and we need to utilize them also. Do I make myself clear?"

Minna angrily replied back, "General with all due respect, these are teenage girls we are talking about. Who knows what might happen with all the boys around. I refuse to let my squadron come into contact with them."

Eisen and Minna stared at each other for a while, both of them trying to formulate a solution to this problem. Eisen then smiled. "I knew you would say that."

Minna looked at him questioningly, wondering what he was talking about.

"Alright time to introduce the guidelines to become an Assault Mage. First of all, the mage must maintain control of all emotions at all times. Also, the mage must also be used to being around girls and possible promiscuity depending on the situation. If that is not enough for you this is your division."

She glared at Eisen. But his line of reasoning was correct, and she just couldn't refute that. There just weren't enough witches to supply a full on invasion force.

"I'll agree to this when I get my regulations accepted also. First, I want no interaction between the two units at all. Second, I want the units to also have no knowledge of each other. Last, I want desensitization training for all new recruits."

"Granted. Now please focus your attention to the screen, I am about to explain the point of the Assault Mage Unit." He motioned to a man near a projector. "Please start the first slide." The image that showed up a few seconds later was an image of a Heavy Neuroi-type. "As you can see, Karsland is defended by large numbers of these things. If we want to take it back, we are going to need to destroy them efficiently and without major losses. Now, Dr. Miyafuji before his death has given me multiple designs for strikers. Captain Miyafuji you should have gotten a copy of these designs."

Yoshika sat up.

_My father had other types of strikers? How come they are just coming out now? Was that what was actually in the letter?_

Eisen looked at Miyafuji for a moment, and continued on. "Either way, the designs Miyafuji gave us were a bit… preliminary. It had taken us quite a while to perfect many of the problems with them. But finally we had fixed most of the problems in which Dr. Miyafuji called the 'Assault Class'. You see he had three different classes for his designs. The first and most successful is the 'Striker Class'. He notes that this class is most adept in air, and is literally useless when attacking ground targets. The second class is considered the 'Assault Class' for its useful characteristics."

The image changed. It was a picture of an 'Assault Striker' as noted by the caption. "As you can see, the Assault striker is much more rugged and powerful. But it is much slower than a Striker Class unit, but has more control and stability while carrying heavy weapons. This is where we need the Assault class the most. They are built for ground attacks, and that is going to be a major battlefield we need to win to get at the other hives on the Continent. This is just the gist of the Assault Unit; there are other things that aren't going to be said here today."

Yoshika stood up. "General, what was the third class? My father had three classes, and yet you only mentioned two."

Eisen thought for a moment. A general behind Shirley stood up shaking his head, motioning Eisen to get off the topic. Eisen thought of a quick way to get out. The only way was giving a brief answer.

"Captain, the third class is considered Recon class. These were I believe built for high altitude warfare, but we haven't been able to replicate anything that your father touts in his research."

Eisen looked at her with a slightly tired face, as if he was tired of answering the question.

"But how come us Striker units-", Yoshika protested.

He interrupted quickly. "That is not the topic for today, please stop asking." His usually confident face eroded into a conglomerate of resignation, frustration, and a hint of annoyance. The scowl he seemed to be giving off sent chills down the girls backs.

Yoshika sat down, much more frustrated than before.

_Why is he avoiding the "Recon" class so much? What is there to hide? _

Eisen forced a smile, and muttered to himself about speaking too much. He continued on. "Because we really do not have the time or the resources to get Allied Nations to train all of their available Talent, I got the military agencies to send them here." Some of the Generals behind the girls started to mutter in total dismay. "In this area, we are building a training center," Eisen paused for a few moments to gain a dramatic effect. It didn't work. "and you girls will be the trainers!"

"EHHHHH?" Everyone seemed to have forgotten that Eisen had told them this information just a few minutes before.

"Girls, why are you surprised I mentioned this before. Now I know you girls can't be expected to train them to fighting potential, but some of you are really specialized in your fields, and therefore we need to utilize them for a better chance." The image switched. "Right here is the hierarchy of the school at the moment. The main teachers will be the most experienced members of the 501st, so it would be Major Barkhorn, Captain Hartmann, Colonel Wilcke, and Lieutenant Colonel Sakamoto. Each of you has an extremely high combat ability and instinct that everyone will need in battle. Now for the rest of you, you will become assistants to these major teachers or other jobs that would station you here. We moved the 507th here to better suit Major Yeager and her test runs of experimental strikers for example. I personally would like each of you to help somehow in this effort. I want this to be the last push into Karsland we do. It's time to go on the offensive."

The lights turned on. The Generals returned to their seats, shaking their heads at the antics of Eisen during the past hour. Eisen sat down. "So in all, here is your mission 501st. Train these recruits into the best fighting force in history, because the fate of humanity will rest on it. I will leave a subordinate and a good friend of mine personally, General Parron. Colonel Wilcke will meet him later today to set things up. But for today, the rest of you may have some fun because this is the last time we might have free time like this. Dismissed."

The girls walked out. The Generals then left through the back way. Only Eisen and the man behind the projector were left.

Eisen sighed. "Man, it seems a bit harsh placing the fate of the world on just young girls. Some of them don't even look old enough to even be involved in this… Also, I still can't believe I had to lie about what is really going on..." He paused, and then turned to the man hiding behind the projector. The man's face had a very humbling pair of glasses, and he emitted a friendly, fatherly aura. It contradicted with Eisens confident and assertive aura.

After thinking for a few moments Eisen said,

"Are you sure this is the right thing we are doing, Dr. Miyafuji?"

* * *

Mio arrived at Gallia's port just a few minutes after the meeting began in Karsland.

As Mio got out of the plane she heard a voice.

"Major! Major Sakamoto, what are you doing here?"

Mio looked for the origin of the voice. She found her in the middle of the dock. This was Captain Perrine Clostermann, a Gallian Noble. She had a haughty air around her, but she fought hard to keep it to a minimum. She was blushing, but mostly from the surprise meeting of her idol, rather than other things.

"Perrine, hello there!" Mio replied back. "Are you going to the meeting in Karsland?"

Perrine looked a bit confused. "What meeting?" She had not heard of any meeting from HQ.

"Did HQ not tell you about all 501st units are supposed to be there?" Mio asked.

"No, all they told me was that I was being sent to this port city to help the economy."

Mio became even more confused about the situation.

_This was a command from the top of the Allied Military, why are they trying to hide this?_

"Bring me to your HQ; I'm releasing you from duty."

Perrine forgot about all her orders and walked with Mio to the waiting vehicle to take her to Karsland.

Mio leaned towards the driver, "Sir could you bring us to Gallia HQ?"

The driver nodded. It wasn't as far as Perrine made it seem, with all her worrying.

30 minutes later, the two girls were sitting in front of Gallia HQ.

Perrine looked at Mio and pleaded with her. "Please, don't do it, its fine! The others can handle me not being there, but you need to be at Karsland!"

Mio laughed heartily. "No, if they want all of the 501st there, they are getting all of us!"

Perrine looked down and said nothing as Mio walked in. The place looked like an office rather than a military base. There were papers strewn about, women typing away on typewriters, and barely any military presence at all. Mio looked for the receptionist. The receptionist was a young lady, not over 25, but she seemed very bored at her job. Mio walked up to her. Her bored expression didn't change.

"Yes and what will you be demanding today of our army?" She droned in a monotone voice.

"I am Major Sakamoto of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing. I would like to talk to an officer please."

"Well, you will have to wait 28 days ma'am... Our officers are booked for the whole day, because so many people are very grateful for their freedom and express it to them by inviting them to festivals and-"

Mio slammed her fist on the desk. "It's urgent."

"Well then I guess you will have to wait." The woman didn't even look up.

"I told you Major… The officers here are too busy, so they would have never known about it." Perrine said quietly.

Mio was just about to burst out in anger, but then a phone rang at the receptionist desk. The receptionist swiftly answered it, totally dispelling Mio's belief that she was a very lazy soldier.

"Gallia HQ. If you are calling about speaking to an officer, they are all booked right now." Her expression then switched to surprise. "Colonel, I am so sorry for my tone of voice!"

Mio inched away from her and sat down on a plush chair.

She sighed. "What happened when we left Romagna, Perrine? Why is the Gallian Military worried about image now?"

Perrine stood awkwardly next to Mio. "The military is trying to get more influence in the government. As the government is run by the Monarchy, the nobles have exceptional clout here… So they are trying to persuade the Nobles into giving them power…"

Mio looked shocked. "Why have you not done anything yet? Perrine, please tell me you could have done anything!"

Perrine squirmed under Mio's excitement. "I… I can't."

"Why not?"

"I… I just… I just can't!" Perrine ran away. As Mio watched her run away, all she could think was:

_What happened here?_

Mio said aloud, "I can't believe she just ran away like that." She slumped down into the plushy chair and awaited Perrine's return.

* * *

The girls walked out, looking more tired than ever. Lucchini was piggybacking on Shirley's shoulder, sleeping gracefully.

Minna spoke first after leaving the dark room. "I am going to call and see where Major-, no Lieutenant Colonel Sakamoto is. She must be at Gallia HQ by this time…" Minna ran off.

The others trudged their way to the dormitories, where they fell asleep immediately, not noticing that their luggage was still in boxes and they still had to unpack.

* * *

**AN: Ok this one is very expository, and lots of new details that are original... I hope XD. I want to mention that there will be Boy supporting characters, but it's not going to be for a small while. **

**Before anyone comments, General Eisen is obvious who I'm getting at here. It should be crazy fun trying to mix in both historical figures in a fictional story in the real world. **

**Review and Recommend please! **

**Also, don't forget about my other story, The One Wish of Suzumiya!  
**


	3. Before it Begins

Minna dialed the number to Gallia HQ. A monotone woman's voice came up over the phone. It was very familiar.

"Gallia HQ. If you are calling about speaking to an officer, they are all booked right now." Minna was not having any of that from her own subordinate in the Karsland Army.

"Sergeant Gerund is that how you speak to a Colonel?" The animosity seeped out of her voice and was transmitted through the phone. A surprised voice came out.

"Colonel Minna! I am so sorry for my tone of voice!"

"I want to talk to Lieutenant Colonel Sakamoto."

"Ahhh… Who?"

Minna became slightly annoyed, but stayed calm. It was possible she didn't know who she looked like.

"You know a girl… with an eyepatch…"

"You must mean Major Sakamoto!" the phone shuffled for a moment.

Minna became a bit nervous, it had been so long since they had last seen each other, let alone talked on the phone.

A tough yet soft voice came on the phone. "Minna? Why are you calling? I thought I told you that I would be late?"

Minna remembered the message a few days ago. But it also said she would make the meeting. What happened?

"You missed the meeting! I was- I was just wondering where you went?"

"Oh, I went to Anna's place. There were some things I just wanted to talk about."

Minna paused. She tried to remember who Anna was. Then she remembered.

_Anna is one of the oldest witches I know… She is also well versed in the magical arts, a hero in the First Neuroi War, and knows many magical secrets. What is Mio trying to do...?_

She started talking again after a pause. "Oh I see. How long until you can get here at Karsland Base?"

"Mmmmm…. probably not for a good while. I still have to get Perrine, and then get her cleared to come to Karsland. Ahh she's coming back, I'll talk later. That officer is going to get a piece of my mind you hear me?" The phone clicked, and that was the end of the call. Minna stood there dumbfounded at the quickness of all those events. She was worried about Mio, but also knew that worrying isn't going to help her now. She put back the phone on the receiver and dragged her tired body to the dormitory where she could sleep once more.

* * *

As Mio got off the phone with Minna, Perrine approached slowly. It had been obvious she had been crying, but what she had been crying about was still a mystery.

"Perrine, you shouldn't run off like that. Sheesh, come here." Mio walked over to Perrine and took out a handkerchief. "Stay still or you're going to look horrible when we see the girls again." She took off the glasses. She paused, studying her face. "Wow, nobles really do know how to take care of their skin. It's glowing!" It was a sincere complement, partly because it was true and she was just trying to cheer Perrine up, but Perrine clammed up and looked down. As Mio wiped the tears off Perrine's face, the phone rang yet again. Mio looked at the receptionist, and saw her frantically trying to act more professional because of Minna's call. It was funny and cute at the same time, but Mio was worried about how she was going to get Perrine out of this proxy prison.

The receptionist picked up the phone and with a pleasant voice said, "Gallian HQ. How may I help you today?" It was a very jarring mood change from the strict and tense atmosphere that encircled Mio before. Due to this dissonance, Mio couldn't help but snicker at the receptionist who shot a dirty glare at her for laughing. The receptionist then became surprised. "General Eisen! What is your reason for calling?" As the receptionist started writing down things on her notepad Mio noticed a convoy of cars moving towards the entryway of the Gallian HQ.

"Ahh, but Lieutenant General Fabrique is coming in soon. Shall I leave a message for you?" The receptionist then nodded. "I understand. I will grab him ASAP. Please wait a moment." As she put down the phone the entryway doors opened and light flooded into the room. A group of men walked towards the open doors giving off this aura of confidence. The men at the sides were nothing to talk about, just ordinary soldiers who look like they really need a break. But however, it was the man in the middle to talk about. He looked like a royal king who bought elegantly tacky clothes. Not to mention this man was wearing a purple cape with a blue uniform signifying he is part in the Gallian Military. His cap at the top had 3 stars in gold, to which Mio wondered:

_Does this man think he is a king or something?_

He sauntered into the middle of the room. It amused Mio how much he tried to act like a noble, and all he had were the haughtiness and arrogance of one. He began to speak, as if addressing a royal court.

"My fellow people…" The voice was a booming, condescending kind of voice, and in Mio's opinion, totally ridiculous of a man his rank. Leaders do not belittle, they lead with confidence, and this man shows nothing but cowardice and an insidious aura.

"Hmm? Sergeant Gerund, where are the workers?" He asked looking around.

Sergeant Gerund walked up to him, and saluted. "They are at lunch sir, also there is-"

"Oh! We have guests! I hope you have given them fair treatment! Get them some tea please."

"But sir-" Gerund protested.

"No ifs, ands-" He looked down at her body. "or buts. Now please, go get them some tea." For a little more motivation, the man smacked her in the buttocks. He smiled graciously at her as she walked off, his eyes surveying her body like one does to fertile land. Mio gasped, and then looked at Perrine who nodded sadly.

Mio then put her hands on Perrine's shoulders and slowly asked, "Is that all he did?"

She opened her mouth to say something, but immediately closed it. Mio looked confused for a moment, and then turned around. The man earlier was standing right behind her. From a distance this man looked relatively average. But up close, he was the kind of man little children would think is a monster. Mio instinctively shielded Perrine and asked, "Who are you?"

"Young Lady, I am Lieutenant General Fabrique. And it seems like you know my little friend Perrine very well." His voice was very condescending and very cold. It sent a chill down Mio's spine. "Ahh, but you are a fine young lady, why don't you come work for me... We could have some fun." He said as he scanned Mio's body.

At that moment, Sergeant Gerund came back with a Tea Set. She put it down gingerly on the table and returned to the phone. She began talking. "General Eisen I am so sorry for the wait, Lieutenant General Fabrique wanted some tea and I had to get it. I hope you were not troubled."

Fabrique tensed, showing a look of fear. He backed off and inched closer to the phone. Sergeant Gerund made a sly smile and handed him the phone. Mio dropped her defensive stance and listened to Fabrique's conversation. Even on the phone he acted like a very smug person. He was the overconfident and condescending person that wouldn't be liked very much liked amongst his peers, and it delighted Mio and quite possibly Sergeant Gerund as well to see him squirm.

"But General, Perrine is a very important person to our HQ also! She is used for many things!"

Mio was astonished by Fabrique's tenacity and stubbornness.

_It's probably a good reason why he's a lieutenant general I suppose._

"But…" Fabrique looked dejected. "Yes General, I understand." He put the phone down and turned to Mio and Perrine. He scowled and muttered harshly, "1st Lieutenant Clostermann, You are hereby transferred to Karsland HQ indefinitely under the orders of Allied Forces Commander General Eisen. You leave at 1900 hours. Dismissed." He walked off, but not without making a scene with his cape.

"Ahh… I get to go then after all…" Perrine said quietly. She then looked at Mio and smiled. Mio smiled also, because this was the first true smile she'd seen from Perrine the whole day.

"Well then I'll go help you pack!" Mio and Perrine then walked off to her living quarters.

* * *

Yoshika woke up an hour after falling asleep.

_Where am I? I don't remember this being my room…_

She looked around the dark room, and saw boxes stacked around the bunk bed. She was on the lower bunk, along with Lynette, though she was sort of on the ground already. Yoshika rubbed her eyes and got up. The boxes were clearly labeled who's luggage was who's but Yoshika didn't remember bringing this much luggage.

_Might as well get the room set up…_

She yawned as she got to work. Yoshika noticed that most of the luggage really wasn't labeled, but it was just there. As she opened the boxes, a cloud of dust exploded in her face, giving her the conclusion these things were old. As she hacked through the cloud, she noticed that all that was actually inside were bunches and bunches of books and notes. A little looking around in the books and she found out that the owner was her father, Dr. Ichiro Miyafuji. Yoshika gasped and dropped the book. She quickly turned to Lynette, who shifted a little, but did not awaken. Yoshika opened the book and read the book, which was very conveniently in Japanese.

_I never understood why Father was secretive of his work… I mean it helped Liberate many parts of the world. It must have been fun trying to translate his notes in Britannia._

She read through the notes for a long time, learning more and more about the striker unit's creation. She did not understand all of it, but enough to get a general idea of how it worked. It was all very interesting, but the moment she looked out of the window, the sun was going down. "Ahh! I should have been fixing everything up!" She scrambled up and started to set up the room again. By the time she was done, night had fallen and she still didn't know what to do with the extra boxes of notes someone had left her. Someone knocked at the door.

"Hey if anyone is awake in there, it's time for dinner. If you don't hurry Lucchini might eat everything. Hey wait up you!" The footsteps echoed in the hall. Yoshika shook Lynette gently.

"Lynne wake up..." She said. Lynette opened her eyes and got up. As she rubbed her eyes sleepily, she turned to the clock to check the time.

She jumped up from her sitting position. "How long was I asleep Yoshika?"

"Maybe since 2pm or something. Come on let's go eat!" Yoshika pulled Lynette out the door and dragged her to the dining hall.

The dining hall wasn't very fancy, or even permanent from the looks of it. There were portable tables and plastic chairs everywhere, and the floor had a good amount of weeds poking out of its linoleum floor. The walls were fairly solid, but there was erosion and cracks everywhere. It was possible that the Neuroi attacked it a few years back.

"Over there!"Yoshika said. They ran over to the table where the rest of the group was seated. The chairs were a bit rickety, but they held on.

"Hey Miyafuji." Shirley said. "So as I was saying, I was testing some of the stuff here, and I found Ursula tinkering with the jet striker again. She told me that a good number of its parts were put into the Assault Striker's that General Eisen was talking about."

Gertrude sighed. "Isn't that thing dangerous though, I mean remember when I used it?"

"It's not like they took the whole thing out! God, Trude. I bet they only took out the magic accelerator."

Yoshika jumped in, remembering something from her father's notes. "Well… If I remember right, the main point of the assault striker units was to have control and power over speed. That would mean that the magic engine of the jet striker would be used, but with a stronger engine that doesn't output more speed, but more control. That would basically mean that our assault mage would have to be able to control the amount of magic that one would have to output, making it much easier to strafe with maximum control."

Everyone looked at Yoshika with wide eyes. She felt a bit embarrassed for knowing all this.

Minna started to talk first, and at the same time averted her eyes to hide her surprise at what Miyafuji said. "Where did you get all this information Miyafuji? I remember Eisen giving me a paper with the specification of the assault striker, but that was just so detailed…"

"I just read it from my father's notes…" Yoshika said bashfully.

"Did you get to read them at home?" Gertrude asked.

"No, I just got them today! Honest!" Yoshika started feeling embarrassed and started getting nervous.

Erica came in with a bunch of plates. "Dinner everyone!"

Gertrude looked at the plates, "You didn't cook this right?"

Erica looked at her funny. "No, I'm not that dumb. The guys from the kitchen wanted to give us a small gift for coming. They'll be coming in with more later."

Lucchini looked at the food. "Not what I would eat normally, but whatever. Thanks for the food!"

Yoshika sighed and felt happy that everyone dropped the subject. But she was sort of surprised herself for understanding at least some of that book that her father wrote his notes in. It didn't matter at the moment to her. It was time to eat.

Outside a man walked away from the makeshift door smiling.

"General Eisen, you were right. She did read them."

"Didn't I tell you? Now come on. We have an operation to put into order before Sakamoto comes." The two men walked off towards the command building.

* * *

**AN: Christmas Update! Well I actually don't have much to talk about today... Boys aren't coming for 2 chapters at worst. Soooo, If you're reading for that, just wait 2 chapters. I sort of added a few original details, and an Original Character, so lots of new stuff to use. Next chapter will focus on the assault mages however, and Perrine and Mio meet up with the 501st again! W00t!**

**EDITED LAST PART DUE TO A FREAKOUT REVIEW .  
**

**Review and Recommend to others!  
**

**Merry Christmas all!  
**


	4. Calm Before The Boys

The day right after started out on a positive note. For one, Mio and Perrine had arrived, and had set up a surprise party in the dining "room" when the squad came in. Two, there was no long meeting like yesterday's meeting with Eisen, which meant it was a day to lounge around. Three… Well it was a sunny day without a cloud in the sky. Yoshika woke up at around 8am, and was quite literally the earliest one up considering that she didn't stay much longer after the meal. What she was doing however was actually sort of peculiar to someone who is a commissioned senior officer of the Allied Forces, and also part of the 501st JFW, considered one of the most successful Strike Witch squadrons of the modern time. The moment Yoshika woke up, and looked around, she got out of her bunk and started to grab a dog-eared notebook based on the Striker Unit. It was somewhat like an attraction for her, something that had stayed in her mind since the first time she opened the notes yesterday. In those two days alone, Yoshika had read about 5 notebooks of notes based off of the research her father had done on the Striker Unit. The boxes in the room were now put into a corner unoccupied by anything particularly useful, and were left like that for easy access. Lynne woke up about 30 minutes later.

"Yoshika…" She rubbed her eyes. "Are you awake?"

Without even looking from her page she mumbled, "Yeah, I'm awake. Ah- that's new."

Lynne sighed, knowing that Yoshika was reading more of those notes they had found yesterday. Lynne left right after Yoshika, really because there was no need for her to be there at that time and just decided to relax in Yoshika's and her room. She had brought a few books to read, and they weren't difficult, but they were long. One was called That thing in the middle of War and Peace and it was a decent book for someone who just needed time to kill. But by the time Lynne fell asleep, Yoshika was still absorbed within the books delving deeper into the mysteries of the Striker.

"_Well I guess it's a weird way to forget her loss of magic_," thought Lynne as she got up. "_Though, wouldn't that remind her of her lost powers?_"

Lynne got up and changed into her daily outfit. "Hey Yoshika, when's breakfast?"

"I think around 9 or something. We have a different schedule than the rest of the base."

"We should go wake up the girls."

Yoshika looked up from her notebook and turned towards Lynne, "Well from the sound of the chattering behind our door they should be coming in, in 5… 4… 3… 2… 1…"

"SURPIRSE!"

The door flew open and Lucchini entered the room as if it was a safe zone from a dangerous place. The rest of the girls just looked inside.

Lucchini looked a bit sad. "Aww you guys are awake! I wanted surprise you like I did to Barkhorn!~~~"

Gertrude shouted outside the door, "My breasts are not a squeeze toy!"

Everyone started laughing. Yoshika legs were hanging over her bunk, while Lynne was just fixing up the room a little while the laughter was dying down. Yoshika dropped from the bed gracefully, and looked out the door.

"So I guess we are going to breakfast?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Shirley said nonchalantly.

"Ah, let's go then."

They walked out the door and down the hall. The dining room was in the middle of the base, so all the buildings are literally all the same distance from it. The girls walked down the hallway towards the dining room.

"Wow, usually you two are in the Kitchen or something, Miyafuji." Minna said.

"Ah, but we have a full time cooking crew though." Yoshika answered quietly.

"We had one in Romagna also." Elia said as she walked up to the group.

"Did we? I don't remember that…" Shirley said, while thinking back to Romagna.

"Yeah we did, but Yoshika and Lynne took over, and the kitchen crew just cooked for the others."

"Heh, I bet Minna was rather happy that men weren't cooking for us."

Minna glared at Shirley. "Seriously? Though, to be honest, I never noticed that."

Lucchini shouted from Shirley's back, "I would rather have Yoshika's cooking!"

Everyone agreed with that sentiment as they walked into the dining room.

The dining room was much different from yesterday's drab and basically just old structure. The place was covered in tablecloths and ribbons were everywhere. It wasn't hard to say that this was like a party environment. The girls' eyes fell upon the two girls standing in the middle of the room.

"Ahahahahaha, welcome to our welcoming party 501st!"

"Mio!" everyone shouted.

"Don't forget about Perrine here, she's the reason we're late!"

Perrine walked up slowly, without the usual confidence that the girls were used to from their service in Britannia and Romagna.

"Hey guys… I'm back." She said unsteadily.

"Hey Minna, General Eisen told me to give you this." Mio handed Minna a piece of paper.

"Ah, I wonder when he was going to get to that. Barkhorn, Hartmann, and Sakamoto, we have to go to Eisen's office, he needs to talk to us."

Erica looked a bit annoyed. "Awww, but I wanted to talk to the girls more…" She pouted.

Gertrude dragged her out of the room.

Everyone else sat down around relatively large round table. Perrine became even more nervous due to everyone looking at her.

"W-What are you all looking at?" she squeaked.

Lucchini jumped up, "We haven't seen you in a while; that's why!"

Elia nodded and said, "You realize you haven't been keeping up with all the letters we've been sending you right?"

Perrine looked confused. "What letters?"

"What do you mean what letters? We said we'd send each other a letter at least once every other month!"

"I never got any though…"

Yoshika realized why she hadn't been in very much contact with Perrine. Then she said, "Uhh, isn't there a good chance that her last job screened our mail and discarded the useless stuff?"

Perrine was glad Yoshika was sort of helping. However Shirley and Lynne were suspicious. It's notable that her personality has changed, but a 6 month lapse in letters? There was something going on, and she wasn't telling.

* * *

Minna led Mio, Gertrude, and Erica to the General's office, which was really a tent. It was small and a bit unfitting for the commander of all Allied Forces, but he preferred it nonetheless. Eisen was inside the tent talking to a younger advisor and writing down things on a scroll. In a way, it felt like he wasn't a general but more of a friendly captain who cared a lot about his men. He saw the girls outside and waved the man off, and rolled up the scroll and placed it inside a bag. The girls walked in. As they passed the younger advisor, Mio noticed he looked eerily familiar, like she had met him before. She couldn't put a name on who he was however. Eisen's tent was relatively big, and for some reason it seemed more luxurious than the dining room in its normal state. Eisen leaned back in his chair and put his feet onto the table.

"Hello girls, glad you could make it." He leaned over to the bag once more and pulled out a stack of papers and another scroll. "So, Lt. Col. Sakamoto, you should have been briefed on the situation on your way here right?"

Mio nodded. Eisen looked at her closely and studied her face. "Well anyway, you girls are the main drill instructors of this training place I am setting up. And right now, I need to discuss where the rest of the 501st will be stationed because frankly, they can't teach these girls as well as you can. However I'd rather have you girls be together rather than apart, but we do have a big group of new recruits coming in so it isn't possible in any sense whatsoever. But that is a discussion for another day. So, I was thinking of it like this. Yeager and Lucchini would be transferred to Research and Development for Test Piloting. I personally think Lucchini shouldn't even be there, but it would be insane letting her loose in the base. Any objections so far?"

Minna thought it over for a moment. "Lucchini is the youngest of our squadron, is there no other alternative? Personally I really think that she shouldn't be test piloting."

Eisen then replied, "Well, consider this base like an island. We just set it up, so it doesn't have anything for her to do really. As an example, we have no freaking baths for god's sake."

The girls choked on those words.

"Hahahahaha, I'm joking, we have basic showers." He was deadly serious on this one however. He sighed, looked up and said, "It would be best if she was occupied with something fun."

Mio, Minna, and Gertrude nodded their heads. Erica was daydreaming and ignoring the conversation.

"Next is Juutilainen and Litvyak, and to be honest, I need someone on night patrols. This one is exactly the same post as last time for Litvyak am I correct?"

Minna agreed. "Putting Elia and Sanya together would be perfect. However, are there going to be other night patrol witches? I don't want to overwork them."

Eisen said, "We'll see, I hope you get what you ask for in these witches and mages. Now for Bishop and Clostermann. I think they are really best for… Damn, I can't think of anything…"

Gertrude said, "How about putting them at base operations?"

"Well, they were pretty deep into our Allied office jobs. I guess that's best. But I want Bishop in charge of the kitchen; I'm so tired of eating shit. Those kitchen boys work hard, but a soldier does not deserve crap at the end of the day." Eisen put his feet down and opened some of the papers placed on the table earlier. "So right here is how we are going to train-"

"What is Miyafuji going to do?" Mio interrupted.

"Miyafuji has a special job and will be briefed on it later. Don't worry." Eisen parried that interruption like a supreme swordfighter would. "We are going to train these kids in two sections. One is based off of Colonel Wilcke's idea of separating the units. The Witches will be trained in Air to Air dogfighting by Hartmann and Gertrude. The Mages will be trained for endurance and magical techniques." Eisen took another page from the stack. "The witches are going to be escort fighters. Assault Mages have no protection from air attack, and Neuroi heavily use their air units to gain an advantage. Each escort fighter squadron will be at first lead by 501st members, bar Miyafuji, and then those members will lead their own escort squadrons. Now, for assault mages, these guys have no concept of their mage potential. To be honest, most of these guys are manipulative bastards who use their magic to get their way rather than learning how to control it. Wilcke and Sakamoto, you two will train these boys to become one of the best fighting forces we have."

The two girls felt a strange surge of confidence as Eisen kept talking. He leaned forward as if he was giving away private information. They wanted to listen to more of it.

"Look, I know you have fought Neuroi for a long time now and lost loved ones. I am the same as you and would prefer not to sacrifice our men. But let's face it, we lose more and more men if we keep Neuroi around and not take the initative and attack them on their turf. This is our world, and we have to take it back. I know you probably aren't happy about teaching boys, but a few of my advisors told me, there is no way we are going to win without more help from witches. We can't keep this little siege game going forever, it has to end somewhere or otherwise we die trying to help the world. Every second we let the Neuroi live, we get closer to being enslaved, or worse, extinct. I swear on my life, I will never let this happen. So please, girls, don't do this because you have to, do this to protect the people you care about… no… to protect all of humanity!"

Eisen took a deep breath and fell back in his chair. "Oh that's fun to do once in a while." The mood imploded spectacularly. The girls still felt very confident about themselves and felt ready to face the storm that would soon pass their way. They saluted the general.

"Oh just go back." Eisen smiled and saluted them then sat back in his chair. The girls left the tent.

The advisor who left earlier returned right as the girls left. Eisen gave a scroll to the man; it had been laying on the desk for quite a while now. "Ichiro, the spies are reporting weird things are happening deep in the heart of Karsland. They can't investigate and we need an opening. When the Recon units are ready, launch the units ASAP."

The man protested, "But sir, there are still major problems with the unit. We haven't been able to remedy them yet."

"Don't worry, I'll send a specialist to check them out soon. Now go back to the research facility and see what you can do." The man saluted left the tent. Eisen sighed and muttered, "Now I need to get his daughter Yoshika involved."

* * *

"Hey Yoshika, have you tried this bread, its sooo good…" Lucchini said sleepily. The girls in the dining hall were waiting for Mio and the others to return from Eisen's tent. The food had come already, but the girls there decided that they would wait until everyone was here so they could celebrate. It had been almost 30 minutes already.

Perrine became annoyed, "How long are they going to take?"

Lynne sighed and tried to entertain the bored girls. "So, did anything fun happen recently?"

Everyone looked at Lynne and sighed. It reminded them that they were bored. Shirley slumped over and said, "Okay, so how does everyone like the new place we have? Seriously, it's huge!"

Elia poked her head up from the table. "Eh, it's not that big, and the place is freaking empty. So many barracks and no one in them. Just mechanics and cooks for now."

Shirley looked at Elia and said, "Well we are training recruits, so it's a wonder why they are empty…"

"Couldn't they have just filled it with recruits and_ then_ get us?"

"Do I look like I know every freaking answer? I'm not the owner of this place."

The doors opened into the dining room.

"Man that was brutal. I thought he wouldn't stop talking.", Erica said as she walked in yawning. Then Gertrude followed in.

"Admit it, that speech was pretty cool."

"It was alright. Then he killed it."

"Right…"

The two girls looked at everyone at the table. Erica asked, "What's wrong with you?"

The girls at the table glared at her and then slumped back into their old positions at the table.

"Are you mad, I can't teach boys!"

"Yes you can, and I'll be there to help!"

Mio and Minna came in arguing.

"You're better at dealing with delinquents; I don't want to deal with them." Minna sighed.

"I'm going to need help though. Also, everyone has a job here now." Mio replied back.

The girls looked up from the table. Mio noticed their questioning faces and turned towards them. "Yeah everyone you have jobs here now, so here goes. Lucchini and Shirley, you're back in your old spot with Test piloting. Elia and Sanya, Night patrol. Lynne and Perrine, Operations Command. Miyafuji, Eisen said he'd have something for you to do soon.

"Oh, I'm not worried. I have no magic, so it won't be a problem." Yoshika said while looking out of the grimy window in the dining room.

Mio paused. She wanted to say something, but Yoshika had accepted her new state of normality. Mio was taken aback by how quickly Yoshika accepted it, but the question still lingered in her mind.

_Was she happy?_

* * *

**AN: Wow, that took longer than I thought. Well, talking to a fellow FanFic writer, he noted that the pacing is slow. I plan to remedy that in the 5th chapter. Anyway, going back to this chapter, I think this chapter is just the set up for the big events that I have planned. Boys will appear in the next chapter, and I don't think I can postpone it any longer for you Strike Witch purists out there. Eisen is a bit of the fatherly type of general that I thought was generally awesome, and a bit snarky. Yoshika isn't a major component of the early chapters, unfortunately, and Perrine gets her limelight for a bit in the next chapters. The 5th chapter will be released at least by the 16th, but I am completing a few applications for scholarships and etc. so it may be late. **

**That's all for me now! **

**The One Wish of Suzumiya Haruhi is on indefinite hiatus due to unfortunate circumstances. (My present mindset would truly f*ck over the storyline horribly. I leave it to you to imagine what happened.)  
**


	5. A Mission For 1

It was 6 am in the morning. Eisen had called the girls up early to get them ready for the new recruits that would be entering the base. Yoshika however, was told to follow him back to his office.

Lucchini yawned, "For what reason are we getting up so early if we aren't teaching these little kids?"

Minna glared at her. Lucchini straightened up and took her place in line.

The girls were given new uniforms to their old ones. Shirley looked at them and said, "A bit drab… Is there anything that doesn't come in gray?"

"You can wear nothing, I'm sure that would help the morale around here." A voice behind them said.

The girls turned around, angered by the comment. A man, no, a teenage boy was standing behind them. The boy was wearing a light green Karsland uniform with the name stitched in a faded black displaying Schmidt. Minna took one look at him and gasped.

"It's you!" Gertrud and Erica looked at him closely and became very surprised.

"… What are you doing here?" Gertrud asked.

"Ah, I got transferred in. I'm supposed to work with you girls."

"How, you don't have magic!"

"Sure about that?" He smirked, and the girls immediately thought the same thing.

"Let me guess… You were sent here by Eisen to head his Assault Mage squadron." Minna said while rubbing her head.

"Bingo, onee-chan. Oh wait where's the cute Fuso girl that I saw earlier? I wanted to show off my knowledge of her language. " He walked towards the gate and leaned into it sighing. "Also Minna, when are you going to introduce me to the girls?"

Minna quickly responded "Never you jerk. Now go away before the witch recruits get here. I'd rather not expose them to your debauchery."

He looked at her with sad eyes, then put on a smile and said, "Whatever. When the Mages get here, I'll be in the dining room. Later girls."

Erica looked at him leave. "Minna, you shouldn't be so mean to him. You just make him get worse you know?"

Minna sighed. "Erica, I don't want to deal with him right now. Also, I've been plenty nice to him."

Gertrud looked at her and asked incredulously, "WHEN?"

"Ummm…." Minna thought about it for a moment. "Back in boot camp."

Gertrud answered back, "That doesn't count! We were too tired to give a damn who we were talking to anyway!"

Minna looked at a clock inside a nearby car. "When the heck are they getting here?"

Sanya looked out on the horizon and said, "They're here."

Everyone turned their heads to the foggy horizon. 20 drab Half-Tracks moved their way through the dense fog, their headlights shone in the distance. The girls moved into position, anticipating the recruits' arrival. The Half-Tracks stopped right in front of the girls in a massive square area at the front of the base. Slowly, nervous girls walked out of the Half-Tracks.

Lucchini noted, "Is it me, or are some of these girls smaller than me?"

Shirley looked and said, "Yeah, they are pretty small. But there are a few older ones in the pack."

Gertrud rolled her eyes and said, "What the hell Eisen, you're making us train girls as old as my sister to fight in a war…."

Minna turned to them and angrily said, "Shut up, and look somewhat like a military soldier for once in your lives!"

They quickly snapped into military stance.

Mio grabbed the megaphone from the car and barked orders into it. "Alright ladies, I want 10 rows of 10 single file lines now!"

The girls scrambled to follow orders. Mio cracked a laugh and said, "Erica, Gertrud, this is going to be easy for you. Look at them, they are already scared silly!"

Gertrud shouted orders at the new recruits and commanded them to pick up their bags and bring them to the barracks. As the girl recruits walked away, 10 more half tracks started appearing in the foggy horizon.

Minna sighed, "Alright, time to get that idiot, the boys are here. Come on everyone." All the girls but Mio walked towards the dining room.

The Half-Tracks waiting in the assembly field started to drive out to give the incoming ones room.

As those Half-Tracks stopped, 100 young boys came falling out. They noticed Mio standing there all alone and some started cat calling her.

"Oooh, I'd to bring that home…"

"Good for a one-nighter eh?"

Mio twitched at these phrases. She picked up the megaphone and shouted, "GET IN LINE AND STAND AT ATTENTION!"

The boys looked at her and laughed. "Right like some **girl** is going to order us around!" one person said.

A jeep pulled up with Eisen, Schmidt, and Minna. Mio shouted the order once more, but to no avail.

Eisen then took megaphone from Mio, looked at her kindly and said to the boys, "Keep laughing boys, because this here is your drill sergeant. Also, for disobeying her, now you have to run 3 laps around this base **WITH YOUR BAGS STILL ON. MOVE IT MAGGOTS!**"

The boys were scared now and they scrambled to get up. Eisen gave the horn to Mio and the keys to the Jeep.

Schmidt snickered and Minna smacked him in the head and said, "This means you too."

As Schmidt ran off with the others, Eisen said, "Make sure they aren't going too slow. If you have to, give them a gentle nudge with this here bumper." He tapped the front of the Jeep. "As for me, I left poor Miyafuji sitting there all alone near my office. I'll just take a stroll around the base to warm myself up."

As Eisen walked off, Mio started to laugh. "Hahahahaha, this is going to be fun. Minna, seeing as you have problems with boys, you are driving this car. Please don't hurt them hahahahahahaha…."

"Shut it Sakamoto." Minna turned on the car and drove off with Mio to the running boys.

* * *

Yoshika woke up at around 6:30 am. Lynne had already left to meet the new recruits, but she was allowed to stay in. As she stumbled around trying to get dressed, she saw the half tracks appear in the horizon.

_Are those the girls or the boys?_

She got dressed and walked towards Eisen's office.

On the way there, she saw a teenage boy in a light green Karsland Uniform walking towards her.

"Hey what country are you from cute girl?" he said.

"Fuso." Yoshika felt a bit intimidated by him. He got a bit closer.

"Oh and what-" He began to say, but then Schmidt saw something in the distance and started walking again.

_Who was he?_

She got breakfast from the kitchen and ate it quickly. It was plain and totally unfilling. She sighed and went straight to Eisen's office.

A few minutes later, she was in front of Eisen's door.

As she was about to open the door, Eisen appeared around the corner.

"Oh Captain Miyafuji, you just got here. Come in, I have something to talk about with you." He gestured her inside the office.

She walked in and saw that the office was lined with charts. Some were striker schematics, while some were other types.

Eisen sat down in his chair. He looked at a few of his documents in front of him.

Yoshika didn't look directly at him, mainly because she was nervous.

"Now you must be wondering why I called you here. Look at these schematics and tell me what the part is."

He handed Yoshika the document. She opened it.

Eisen kept talking. "Now my research and development team can't tell what the hell these notes Miyafuji left for us, gods forbid the Fuso scientists saying it makes no sense…"

"Sir… It's an experimental engine prototype for the R.E.C.O.N. Striker."

Eisen jumped up in his chair. "How the hell did you find out what it said?"

"My father was pretty secretive about his work. When I was young, he tended to use a code to make his work undecipherable to pretty much anyone. However, he taught me this code because then if I ever needed to talk to him about something private I could just write it down and he would understand." Yoshika said this proudly as she explained even more to Eisen. "Furthermore, General, the "engine" is only the magitek motor, but it looks like an upgraded version of it…"

Yoshika then placed the folder gingerly onto the table.

Eisen clasped his hands together. "You know Yoshika, you may not have magic, but there is a way to help the strike witches. Do you think you are up for it?"

It was a moment before Yoshika stood up and said, "Yes General. I am up for the challenge."

"Good." He wrote down something on a piece of paper. "I want you to bring this note down to the head of the Research and Development division in his room. He will answer to the Codename Guardian. Do not enter the room. Leave it on the floor and walk away. In intelligence documents you shall be known as Magic Fox."

Yoshika saluted the General and left.

_I guess this is the only way to help now… I'll do my best!_

As she walked towards the R&D building near the airfield she noticed a few boys in the distance. A jeep was following them, and a few boys were scrambling around with a familiar voice shouting to run faster.

… _I think Mio's gone crazy…_

She passed by the dining hall where she saw the other girls just sitting there.

"What are you doing Yoshika?" Lynne asked.

Yoshika turned around and saw Lynne holding some food. "Oh something for General Eisen. Why are the girls just sitting there?"

"Their assigned jobs don't go into effect until tomorrow. Eisen explained that to us before he dropped off Minna and the other guy over by the assembly area." Sanya saw Yoshika and waved.

She waved back, and pointed at the jeep. "What is going on over there… Mio is trying to run over our own recruits?"

Lynne stared at the jeep for a small while. "From what I can see… Minna is taking out her frustrations on Schmidt…"

Lucchini came outside, and yawned. "What's taking so long with the food Lynne?"

"Ah. Here I have it. I guess I need to leave you to whatever the General asked you to." Lynne went inside.

Yoshika walked on. Soon enough Signs pointing to the R&D building started to show up. Yoshika quickly saw the building.

The R&D building was a large gray hangar. Yoshika entered the building and looked for the Division Leader's room.

A girl with yellow hair and glasses walked past while muttering things below her breath.

Yoshika noticed her immediately and called out, "Ursula!"

The people in the room turned to the new voice. One man tapped Ursula's shoulder. "Hmmmm?" She looked where the man was pointing. "Oh it's you Miyafuji! What are you doing here? I thought you were with the others meeting the recruits."

"No, General Eisen wanted me to do something more important for him. I've been transferred to this division as a specialist for the R.E.C.O.N. Project. Where's the division head?"

Ursula pointed to the office at the top of the Hangar. "The head is a bit eccentric, I've seen him once or twice, and he communicates by notes. He wears a gas mask for some reason also."

By the time she was finished Yoshika had already climbed the steps to the Division Head's office. She knocked on the door. A sound of shuffling papers was heard behind the door, and then a voice asked, "What is my codename?"

Yoshika answered, "Guardian."

The voice opened the door long enough for a hand to stick out. Yoshika was taken by surprise by how quick it placed its hand out but she gave the note anyway.

The voice then gave her another note that said, "Observation Mission 03-0395: Observe prototype Superiority striker version 3.45 in Strike Witch Training course at Runway 3. Note Acceleration, Top Speed, and aerodynamics. Problems may arise during training. DO NOT INTERFERE AT ALL COSTS."

Yoshika walked out of the building, beginning the first mission of her new assigned position.

* * *

**AN: Well its a bit dry I guess. Boys are here, and they will be important for a long time. So I plan to switch the computer I use to write all this, because it really is a pain to be going from one computer to another to write this story. Hopefully that will up my update rate of this story, and maybe One Wish, but who knows. Yoshika might lose some screentime in this story because I have something for Perrine planned out, but I can't exactly see if it will be its own monster or a small thing on the side. Keep reading and reviewing!  
**

**Also, I told you I would release by the 16th! XD.**


	6. Freefall

"Move it boys! Just one more lap to go!" Mio shouted on her megaphone. She was riding around in a jeep with Minna, who looked very annoyed.

"Mio, aren't you being a bit too nice? I'd like to make them run a bit faster." Minna said casually.

"Well, if I make them run any faster then I'll have to pick up every other guy. Also Minna, you aren't exactly the Devil Bitch Queen yourself you know. You could have hit so many guys…" Mio said while making sly grin at her.

"They can't fly if they break their legs!" Minna shouted while revving the engine to scare a lanky boy into running again.

10 Minutes later, all the boys had returned into the entrance area from which they had appeared at the beginning of the day. General Eisen slowly walked up to the boys. They tried to stand, but they fell over from exhaustion.

He sneered at them. "Weaklings. Just wait until the training course."

Mio and Minna saluted the general. He saluted back. "At ease."

Eisen stared at the boys. "How many did Colonel Wilcke run over today?"

Mio started laughing, "Only about 5 or 6 out of this sorry group." Mio glanced at the boys. "I doubt they will ignore me ever again though."

Eisen turned and pointed towards the western area of the base. "Send your boys to the barracks to put their bags away, and then meet me at airfield 4 at 1000." He walked off without saying another word.

Mio got back into the jeep and shouted at the boys, "GET YOUR ASSES UP NOW!" .

Minna looked at Mio and said, "I haven't heard you talk like that before." She started the jeep.

The boys followed the jeep to the barracks. The barracks were just small quarters made to fit 20 at a time. Mio commented on the conditions, "Well I see Eisen is not going to give these guys any love."

"Well that's good. They shouldn't be expecting anything." Minna replied. She looked at her watch. It was almost 10am. "Hey Mio we gotta go. Airfield 4 is across the base!"

"Ah, well then." Mio got out the megaphone and said, "HEY GET OUT HERE!" Within 5 minutes 100 boys were ready to leave. She put down the megaphone and said, "We only have one jeep and airfield 4 is across base. Get moving, this is your cardio!"

The boys grumbled and started running toward Airfield 4. However they stopped.

"What the hell is going on with those guys?" Mio said.

"Let's go see, Mio. Wonder if they found something." Minna drove up to the group of guys and saw someone familiar.

The boys encircled a girl. She had small brown hair and a light complexion. She was timidly holding a piece of paper and trying to hide it from the boys. Minna and Mio ran up and broke up the guys. They broke up quickly, but many took a second glance or third glance.

"Miyafuji, what are you doing all the way down here?" Minna asked.

Yoshika's eyes were shifting around. "I was doing something for Eisen. Im headed to Runway 3 right now."

Mio said, "Wow, across base once and then again? These boys are already complaining about it.

Yoshika looked at the boys. "Those guys are acting as if they hadn't seen a girl before. They all saw me and just ran up to me!"

Minna got back in the Jeep and said, "Well that's why I wanted to keep guys off the base."

Mio also walked back to the Jeep and said, "Well it's too late now. Let's get moving. Later Miyafuji."

They drove off towards the walking boys. Yoshika heard Mio shouting at them to run faster. She smiled and kept walking towards runway 3.

Yoshika arrived at Runway 3 almost 5 minutes later. The field was empty, but she noticed the maintenance men setting up strikers. She walked up to the strikers and looked at them.

"Hey! Get away from there! Damn kids…" A man tried to shoo her away, but he stopped. Yoshika looked behind her and saw a tall man in a suit.

"Do not hit R&D agents, Private Wallace. May I remind you why you are situated in this position now?" He said while reaching for something in his pocket.

Yoshika saw his gun, but he moved before she could identify it. The man saw her and said, "Here is your Id. Bring this with you everywhere, as you are pretty much off the grid here. You have Delta clearance, which means you have access to most areas. Im Agent Gabriel, and no that is not my last name."

Yoshika looked at him hesitantly and then down to her new identification card. It was a bit bulky, but it also was a bit fancy. At the top in gold there was lettering that spelled out: War Department ResDev Division. Then below on the left of the card was a star shape with an unusual bold marking inside of it: **Δ**.

_What an unusual marking… _

At the right was info on her, mainly basic information that everyone would know.

Soon enough the girls started to file out of the hangar and stood in straight rows. One by one the girls would walk up to get a striker that obviously was a prototype.

"Agent… Are we field testing?"

He nodded. The strikers were a bit plain and unassuming. However, she wasn't there for that.

Yoshika heard Gertrud's voice among the crowd of somewhat excited girls.

"First row have their strikers?" She barked.

"Yes Ma'am!" they shouted.

"Alright, you have basic training in striker usage, so I hope you are ready for a basic test." Gertrud gestured to Erica, who was ready to go in her striker. "At the very least I expect you to keep up with Captain Hartmann. Get ready to launch!"

The girls in the first row positioned themselves getting ready to launch on runway 3. It was interesting sight, mainly because it was so wide. However, Yoshika noticed that the runway is positioned _towards_ the Neuroi, which meant that it was built as a massive launch field to defend or attack. She noticed that Agent Gabriel was writing down notes, but she didn't look into it any further than that.

_He must be on his own missions also…. Best to focus on mine as well_.

Gertrud's voice echoed in the empty field as she shouted, "Launch!" As she said it, Erica and 10 other strikers flew over Gertrud's head, giving her hair an interesting windswept look. This was just the beginning of the events ahead. It was obvious from the start that Erica's striker was slower than the other girl's strikers, but how much faster was a mystery. At the same time, it was quiet and was very responsive, and Erica responded by starting to do tougher moves with the striker. They all made contrails in the air, leaving a sight of blue sky and white streaks. As Erica started doing tougher and tougher moves, problems started to arise. A situation started to form when Erica completed a freefall drop, which was a technique where one would climb to a really high point and fall for a certain time. The girls tried to replicate that, but many stalled in midair. They started to fall helplessly towards the ground.

Gertrud started shouting into the communicator to Erica, who quickly performed an aerial flip and zoomed back towards the falling girls. However, when the remaining recruits started to flip, the strikers started to emit large amounts of smoke that caused them to land prematurely on the ground. Yoshika got up from her seat, and noticed that all the girls and maintenance personnel had disappeared from the area. She wondered where the other girls were, but they were nowhere to be seen.

_Weren't they just here? _

She looked up towards the falling girls.

_What the hell happened? _

The girls were falling from a considerable distance, so there was time for someone to help them. She began to run towards the grounded girls to help them but Gabriel grabbed her hand.

"Just wait." He looked at the sky, where 6 streaks were headed in an intercept course for the disabled girls. Gertrud had grabbed a striker from the rack of strikers and started to fly up to the falling recruits, but the striker almost stalled halfway up, which caused a major scare for Yoshika as she waited down at the ground. The six streaks quickly grabbed all the girls falling and brought them back to the ground. As they were falling to the ground, multiple squads and jeeps started to appear near Runway 3.

Many of the jeeps were medical jeeps and normal army jeeps. However, there were a few different kinds of vehicles there. One vehicle was a heavily modified halftrack, bearing the initials RDD. Multiple men came out to grab the strikers and replace them with conventional strikers that were already used in conventional warfare against the Neuroi. Yoshika then walked up to the RDD truck and asked the driver if she could be transported to the building. He was wearing a mask, as were the rest of the workers, but he nodded and pointed to get inside the back. The truck started driving off. As she looked back, Yoshika caught a glimpse of Perrine looking very troubled.

The ride back was uneventful, but she saw 3 damaged strikers. At first they just seemed like there was nothing wrong, but looking closely at the striker itself, it was obvious that something else happened too.

There was blood on the strikers.

* * *

Elia and Sanya left the dining room, as ordered by General Eisen. Supposedly they had a mission briefing that they were assigned to do.

"Im going back to the Barracks for some sleep. Lucchini won't let go of me… Oh well. Lynne hold down the fort with Perrine okay? Don't let those idiot boys take over."

Lynne sighed and said, "Alright…"

In the distance she heard Mio's shouts across the base.

"Mio is really going at it, isn't she Perrine?" Lynne asked, having nothing better to do at the moment.

"Yeah…" Perrine said quietly. She didn't look up from her seat. It was obvious something else was on her mind.

"Perrine, ever since you came back, you haven't been yourself. What happened in Gallia?" Lynne asked carefully, feeling that this was a sensitive subject for Perrine.

She put her head up and said in a plain and monotone voice, "Nothing. Nothing happened in Gallia."

"I don't believe that. You haven't replied to most of my letters this past year!" Lynne started to inch herself toward Perrine at a steady rate.

"W-What do you mean?" Perrine leaned away from Lynne's stare. "He did nothing, I said!" she screamed after a tense moment.

Lynne gasped. "Someone did something… And I want to know –"An emergency alarm had been sounded and multiple jeeps were heading to runway 3. Lynne activated her long range eyes, but she could not see anything.

Shirley drove up next to the girls. "Perrine, Lynne! Get in! We gotta get to the closest runway from here!" They jumped into the vehicle and Shirley drove off quickly. The nearest runway in the base was actually very close, but they needed to get to the hangar to get their strikers. The radio received a transmission from General Eisen.

"Girls, keep following the road. I had a halftrack bring your strikers to the emergency hangar right after the sirens sounded. You are all cleared to launch immediately."

Shirley pushed the military jeep to its limits, which put fear in everyone but Lucchini who was used to Shirley's driving. As they arrived, the strikers had been prepped for a cold launch and the girls all entered their strikers. They put on their communicators and put on the directed channel and they heard what the situation was. Tensions were slightly relieved when Gertrud announced it was not a Neuroi attack, but it was a training emergency. Shirley and Lucchini were in front while Sanya and Elia were in the back. As they launched, Erica was saying some troubling news through the communicators.

"They are falling too fast, I can't grab them all Trude!" she shouted.

"Hold on, we have help on the way! Keep going!" Gertrud replied.

Lynne saw the falling witches in the distance. "Shirley! We have 7 falling!"

Shirley turned around and gave orders, "Alright! Everyone catch one at a downward angle! These girls are heavier than they look and if we catch them head on, we get hurt!"

Perrine became annoyed at that order. "Are you crazy? We have to speed up to catch them, and then we gotta aim down? That gets us killed you know!"

Lynne replied, "They are unconscious Perrine! Also, we can stop on a dime if we need to remember?"

The girls neared the falling girls quickly, and Lynne noticed Yoshika on the ground. Yoshika looked helpless as she just looked up at the sky towards the falling girls.

"Lynne, get out of the way!" a voice said.

She maneuvered to the left, and saw a body fly by right where she was previously at. Lynne looked up and saw Gertrud zoom by trying to catch up to the falling girl.

"There's one about to fall to the right of you, Lynne!" Perrine said through the communicator. Sure enough a girl flew by to the right. She was in a spread eagle position, which slowed her fall considerably, but Lynne realized she had to act fast to catch her before she fell to the ground. The speed required to catch up quickly sapped her of almost all her energy. Even then it was obvious that she could not stop quick enough to stop in the air. It would have to be a crash landing.

She shouted into her communicator, "Mayday Mayday Mayday this is Bishop. Mayday Mayday Mayday, I am going down with 1 extra person, I require immediate assistance."

Lynne quickly caught the girl, and started to reverse the striker engine to prevent a fatal crash. However, Lynne was running slowly out of magic, and had to ease her striker into reversing. She saw emergency vehicles nearing the area. The ground was closing in fast and her speed was still too high to safely land the striker. As a last ditch effort she ran the engine in full reverse hopefully slowing them down enough to hit the ground at a non-lethal level. The engine started to spark and smoke, but Lynne ignored it. The ground was still coming too fast, and Lynne couldn't stop moving downwards. The girl on her back was weighing her down, and gravity was slowly bringing them down to earth. The striker started to shoot pain up in her legs, causing her to wince at the damage being inflicted on her, but she kept blasting full reverse in a desperate effort to slow down. She was gliding slowly over a field near the runway. There was no avoiding a hard landing and Lynne weakly reached for her communicator and said, "This… is… Bishop… Mayday Mayday Mayday, I am about 300 meters east of Runway 3 in a field. I have 1 additional…"

* * *

Perrine landed on the ground smoothly and gracefully with an unconscious girl. Men from an unknown truck to her removed the strikers from the girl's person. The sight was hard to look at. Perrine covered her mouth and flew the girl to the nearest medical jeep. Her legs were bleeding and her heartbeat was faint. As she left the girl she heard Lynne on the radio.

" *static* Bishop- *static* Mayday May-*static* hundred meters east of runway- *static* 1 additional –" The line cut out. Perrine tried to raise her on the radio.

"Lynne? Lynne? Come in Lynne!" Perrine started to launch in search of her. However, another voice came on the radio.

"Perrine its Gertrud, we found Lynne east of the runway. She isn't moving."

Perrine flew over to the area Gertrud was talking about. The whole squad flew in to check on Lynne.

"Someone pick her up!" Shirley cried.

"I got her, someone go get the recruit." Gertrud said.

Perrine went down to grab the recruit. She had a stronger pulse than the other girl, but it was still faint. "We have to get them to the jeeps." They flew over to the jeeps, who grabbed the rest of the girls. At the same time the mysterious men took the striker from the recruit and then got ready to leave. Perrine said to them, "You missed a girl."

They replied back, "We aren't here for her striker." Perrine saw Yoshika talking to the driver, but Lynne was already at the medical jeep, so she thought about telling her what happened.

_Should I tell her now, or should I wait until later… maybe not… it looks like she's tired._

Before Perrine could decide, the truck drove away. She muttered obscenities to herself and flew back to the hangar. The rest of the squad was there. Minna and Mio drove up in the Jeep a few minutes later.

"We heard what happened." Mio said. She got out of the car and gave Perrine a hug. Perrine blushed, but she didn't respond to the hug. "You seem a little down, Perrine. Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. Lynne didn't get badly hurt. I'm going to be right back." Perrine ran out. Her tears started falling rapidly down her face. Footsteps sounded behind her. She turned around.

"Perrine, don't lie to me about crap like that!" Mio said angrily. "We are your family, why are you hiding stuff from us now!"

Sniffling Perrine said, "I… I… I… can't tell you… I've lost so much… I won't lose another friend… That Bastard… He'll pay…"

Mio was taken aback by her "crude" words. "Perrine, what happened in Gallia?"

* * *

Yoshika stared at the blood in the strikers. It dripped out steadily, a constant reminder of what happened. The feeling of helplessness… The girls falling from the sky… She could do nothing.

_Why…. Why did this have to happen…? I sacrificed my magic for a noble cause and yet… things like this happen… Is it the right choice?_

The truck reached a stop at the Giant Hangar, the base of the Research and Development division. Eisen was standing outside the hangar and he was visibly angry at the fiasco at Runway 3.

He walked up to the driver. "Get me Guardian out now. This crap just blew up in his face. We have multiple injured and some seriously."

Yoshika hopped out of the truck and tried to walk inside while avoiding Eisen's presence. It almost worked… Until the door creaked open.

"Captain Miyafuji? Come here, Guardian gave you a mission didn't he?" Eisen said.

Looking up at Eisen, she saw an angry and dangerous aura emanating from his body. However, his face resembled a strict father that was more disappointed than angry.

She managed to squeak out a small yes before creating a distance between them.

Guardian came out with 2 masked bodyguards. He was wearing a gas mask, and smelled like sweat, blood, and oil.

"General, what is it? We were about to inspect the strikers." While his face was hidden, it was obvious he was more annoyed than usual.

"This little piece of crap you rushed almost killed 8 lives!" Eisen shouted. "We almost lost a 501 Witch because of that!"

Guardian turned his head to Yoshika who was trying to sneak away. "Agent Magic Fox. Report out on Observation Mission."

Yoshika quickly stood at attention. "The strikers are not ready for use Guardian. Their top speed was good and their maneuverability/aerodynamics was in top shape. However, that stuff does not matter when they stall like that doing an intermediate move that is taught to nearly all aviators/witches. Also, even if they did pass that part unscathed, their engines gave out in a high speed move that almost sent them crashing into the tarmac. The only thing to blame in the incident was the magical engine. There's nothing worse in a recruit than magical control, but apparently this engine has a very tiny tolerance for failure. May I ask one question Guardian?"

Eisen and Guardian were taken aback at Yoshika's analysis of the situation. "G-Go ahead" he said cautiously.

Yoshika took a deep breath. "What kind of striker was that? I remember it was weirdly quiet, even at launch, and it had a really high speed and high maneuverability. That's not a normal combat striker Guardian. Is it the famed R.E.C.O.N. striker my father never finished?"

Guardian looked at Yoshika for a minute. Eisen nodded at him and he began to speak.

"Look, we have to go inside for this. I don't want unwanted ears hearing this."

* * *

**AN: Things just got much more interesting now. As I was writing this, I had some ideas on how to execute this chapter, but I wanted to add some tension, and I got this hybrid of 4-5 ideas. This chapter is also an experiment into a multiple view kind of narration, which is actually very interesting to try, but hard to execute. I tried not to be repetitive here, but if it is, its not intentional. I think my next few chapters will detail the training of these recruits into capable soldiers, with a bit of character development for many of the major characters. Thanks for all the reviews and I hope you guys keep recommending this story to your friends! **

**Keep reviewing everyone!  
**


	7. Aftermath

Eisen and Guardian quickly escorted Yoshika to Guardian's office. The office was full of papers and blueprints. There were multiple folders out, not to mention the large amount of notebooks strewn about the small room. Guardian walked to his desk and gave Yoshika a folder full of papers. She looked inside. Many of the papers were experiments and observations of prototype striker models before. She quickly noticed that there was no live testing with any of the parts. However, the amount of research dedicated to one striker was astounding. There were detailed drawings, theories and also measurements of each and every prototype part that came before. Every 10 or so pages was a blueprint that had a striker prototype version that used all the parts in the preceding pages. Yoshika noticed that a few of these pages were in Eisens hands at the time.

Yoshika said, "Wait, I've seen this before General Eisen. Was the strikers today based on this blueprint?"

Eisen looked at the blueprint she was referencing. "Sadly for a few girls, yes."

Guardian produced a piece of paper he had on his desk. "Okay, sir, here's the report on the previous prototype." He handed the paper to Eisen. Eisen nodded and left the room.

Guardian sighed. "That man needs too much, too quick these days. I understand why, considering the recruits are here, but sometimes we shouldn't rush quality." He looked down at the hangar floor where multiple researchers were working on the damaged strikers. "The R.E.C.O.N. Project has been going on since I became a basic researcher before the 2nd Neuroi War. Now as you should know, there are 3 kinds of strikers, the eponymous Striker Unit, the newly designed Assault Unit, and then the R.E.C.O.N. unit. However, as of the creation of the Striker Division, there needed to be a separation of duties within the division. "Strikers" are our basic unit and our Assault Units are more like specialized units. As you notice, there are only 2 out of the 3 units mentioned. The R.E.C.O.N. units are considered special warfare, or Spec-ops."

Yoshika asked, "So the point of the R.E.C.O.N. Striker is to spy on others?"

He thought for a moment. "Actually, that's what I was going to talk about. Spec-Ops troops also have other things they work on also. Have you heard of the Allied Black Ops?"

She nodded. "Yeah, the black ops troops are highly trained army soldiers trained to survive and do a variety of missions."

Guardian sat down in a chair and rubbed his head. It didn't hurt, but it helped him think. "The R.E.C.O.N. unit is our black ops. However, I thought of a brilliant idea of how to make it easy to fulfill our objectives. As Special Operations is such a large topic, why do we have to make one that does everything, but doesn't do it to our standards of quality? Do you see my logic Captain Miyafuji?"

Yoshika thought about what Guardian had just said. "Well if we did do that, then it would take forever to develop and be ridiculously expensive for us all. I am guessing R.E.C.O.N. will partake in something like Black Ops, so I think we would need at least 2 specialized strikers."

He leaned back in his chair. "Correct, and we developed the High-Altitude R.E.C.O.N. unit which is nearly done, and then the Commando units which are going to be using a new thing to striker design. The Commando unit would make strikers able to land on their feet. We haven't actually started testing yet and today actually was our first live test, and you can tell where that went. Eisen sent you here as a specialist right?"

Yoshika nodded. He kept talking. "Yeah, I've been reading those godforsaken notes for a long time now, but I haven't been able to get Ichiro's ideas out into real life. I have to admit, he was a brilliant researcher, but sometimes his paranoia is a bit debilitating… Alright, so here are the notes on the next striker model we want to produce." He placed a thick folder onto the desk. Yoshika opened the folder of notes that Guardian just gave her. A knock began at the door. Guardian looked outside. He nodded to Yoshika and stepped outside. She looked at all the notes for the next model. A pen lay next to the folder where she had gotten the notes.

_This model is just as bad as the last one! Can I use that pen to write problems and my solutions or will I get in trouble… But this could be my only chance to prevent another disaster…. I won't let that happen again._

She began writing in the notes that she was given. By the time it was dinner, Yoshika had covered pages and pages of notes and marked where each problem could happen and how it could be improved. The ink from the pen was running dry and her hand was hurting from all the writing she had to do. When she finished the final page of notes, Yoshika put the pages of notes all into the folder again and left it in the chair where Guardian sat. She walked out and turned off the lights. As she walked out into the open hangar Yoshika saw one single lonely light in the hangar. She quietly walked down the stairs and started to sneak towards the light. She slowly peeked out. The scene was surreal to her. She saw Guardian disassembling the broken strikers and examining every piece. He muttered a few things and jotted down notes in a small notebook on a table. He sighed and started to remove another part of the broken striker. He did not notice Yoshika sneak away from him and exiting the hangar and blending into the night.

She walked out of the hangar into the cold night. The lights of the dining hall shimmered in the distance. While Yoshika longed to be a part of them, she couldn't bring herself to go there. She walked just outside of the gates of the base and sat down on the grassy hill. It was getting colder, but she didn't care, she needed some time away from it all.

"Yoshika." a voice said. Yoshika turned around. She saw Mio standing behind her. "It's been a while since we talked. I know how it feels to have no magic. Do you remember when you saved me from that monstrous super-hive?"

Yoshika remembered the time the core itself engulfed Mio and created a shield from her magic. "Yeah, I still remember that time vividly in my mind." As she went further into her memory she came to the climax of that memory. "That's the day I lost my magic." She looked down. Mio put her hands on Yoshika's face and oriented her head, so Mio could see her eyes. She then slapped her.

"What you felt today was the same thing I felt during that event. Sometimes we can't choose what happens but we can change the future." Mio then sat down next to Yoshika. She looked at the moon.

Quietly, Yoshika asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Mio looked straight into Yoshika's eyes and said, "I can bring your magic back."

Yoshika stared out at the night sky. "What do you mean by that Mio?"

Mio turned her head to the sky and said, "It means what it means. You want to fly again don't you? Here's your chance, it's on a silver platter, take it!"

A shooting star zoomed by in the night sky. The stars twinkled as Yoshika thought to herself about what was going on.

"Miyafuji?" Mio reached out her hand.

Yoshika quickly slapped it down. "No."

Confused, Mio asked, "What? No to what?"

Yoshika turned towards Mio, and with a determination that hasn't been seen on her face in months, she replied, "I refuse your offer, Mio. I was brought here for other reasons than flying with the 501st. That part of my life is over."

Mio nodded. "However Captain Miyafuji, it may not be-"

Yoshika said, "I refuse. Do you remember when I last flew, Mio? I used your Reppumaru..." She sighed as she lowered her head. "I used up all my magic just to save you, to save everyone. I may want my magic back, but wouldn't that cheapen out that sacrifice? What would be the point of that promise I made? "

Mio stared at her in awe. "Was that how you were able to use the _Shin Reppuzan_?"

"I promised all my magic just to cast it. I have no need for magic again. There is a large difference between my needs and my wants. I will help people no matter what, even in my powerless state, I will find a way. If I get my magic back, wouldn't it make that useless? Those are my reasons for refusing your offer." Yoshika stood up.

Mio quietly said, "The offer will always be on the table. A witch will always be a witch, even if she has no magic." Mio looked back, and saw Yoshika walk away.

As Mio lay down on the grass of the hill she heard Yoshika say, "Thank you, Mio." It could have been the wind, or it was really Yoshika, but Mio heard it somehow.

_What is that girl thinking… Has she really accepted her normality? _

* * *

Yoshika walked back to the room. She looked around for Lynne. "Lynne? Are you there?", she asked. As she started to get ready for bed, a knock came at the door. She opened the door. Perrine came in and quietly looked around. "Hello, Perrine, what are you doing here?"

"Oh… Uh… How should I say this…" Perrine looked nervous.

"Is there something wrong?" Yoshika started to get anxious.

"Umm… Uh…" Perrine started to back off.

"Where's Lynne?" Yoshika shouted.

Perrine was startled by the change in tone, but she quietly started to answer, "She is in the hospital. She got hurt helping some of the girls on Runway 3."

Yoshika stared at her in disbelief.

_What? She got hurt? Where was I? I never saw her there…_

"Oh…T-Thanks Perrine…" she finally said quietly.

"No problem… I'll see you again sometime Miyafuji." Perrine walked out of the door.

_I thought everything was fine… Would it have been different if I still had my magic?_

Yoshika remembered the conversation just before.

_Mio can return my magic… _

_But do I really need that? She said that it was up to me, and I just walked away… _

_Do I really need my magic?_

_I don't really need it. I can live without it._

_Can I?_

She thought long and hard about these things. By the time she checked the clock it had already reached midnight. Yoshika slowly fell asleep. As she slept that memory of the super-hive and Mio dominated her dreams. It kept replaying in her dream as if the record player was broken. Every time she saw it, she knew that the super-hive threatened the existence of humanity itself, but her heart kept telling her she needs the magic. She missed the skies she used to fly through, but she couldn't fly, not anymore. As she slept the dreams grew more vivid and she lived her life through those dreams.

Yoshika woke up at 7am. She quietly got ready for the day when a knock came at the door. "Who is it?" she said.

General Eisen came in with Agent Guardian. They were empty handed, but their presence meant something important was about to be said. Eisen sat down and Guardian stayed standing. Eisen then said, "Good Morning Captain Miyafuji. We have some good news today regarding the events of yesterday. The first thing is that none of the recruits were seriously injured. At most, broken bones or shock, but that's it."

Yoshika let out a big sigh of relief. Some of the injured girls yesterday looked horrible.

"However, there is one thing I am afraid the hospital is missing… A medic with healing powers. We can only do so much, but in extreme events, it saves lives. However those are very rare and even then the countries would still have them stay home rather than go become soldiers."

Yoshika looked down at her feet, obviously ashamed of her missing powers. Guardian quickly cut in, "Don't kick yourself too much Miyafuji, what happens happens. Also on a lighter note, I disassembled one of the strikers and the damage was in the magic engine as you said. I looked into it further and it's as you said, the main cause of stalling was a major deficiency in Magical Control. I also did get a report from Major Barkhorn who said that she also almost lost control of the striker as well. I still find it miraculous that any of the recruits got off the ground. Your analysis of the situation was spot on, even if you never actually opened one of these strikers. I commend you for your work Captain Miyafuji." He saluted Yoshika. She slowly saluted back and nodded.

Eisen then stood up and took out a small case. "Thanks to your analysis, we closed the investigation. Guardian also is developing a new engine component for the striker. However, he will need help. In the wake of these events, I have made you head researcher of the R.E.C.O.N. project. I expect you to report to the R&D headquarters at 1100." Eisen stood up and gave Yoshika the case. She opened the case and it revealed a patch, and a card key.

Guardian looked at the card. "Hand me the card Agent Gabriel gave you. You don't need it anymore." Yoshika handed him the card. She never used it anyway, as she had it for only a day.

The new card had the same markings as her first card, but now the marking had a marking that looked like the letter **B**. She placed it in her pocket and saluted the two men as they walked out. As the General left he said, "This might be a great time to go talk to Lieutenant Bishop. The rest of the girls had already seen her." He closed the door slowly behind him.

Yoshika pondered his words and looked around. She had found some of Lynne's things she could bring to her in the hospital. She put everything into a bag and walked out of the room. The hospital was close to the dining hall, but it was in the other direction from the R&D hangar. It was small and flimsy, but it gave its occupants protection from the elements. Yoshika walked in and asked the nurse where Lynne was. He pointed at the third room to the left. Yoshika walked in quietly and saw Lynne with a cast on her leg.

"Oh hello Yoshika! Have you come to visit me?" Lynne said happily.

Yoshika put the bag down on the table next to Lynne. "Yeah, and I brought some of your things so you don't get bored. Here you go!"

Lynne reached down into the bag and grabbed a random item. "Yoshika?" she asked.

Yoshika was looking around the room and did not notice what Lynne was holding. "Yes Lynne?" she responded.

"Is there a reason that you brought my bras?" Lynne said with stifled giggles. She put it back into the bag and looked at Yoshika.

Yoshika looked at the bright pink bra. She started to blush. "I… I have no response to that."

Lynne giggled and put the bra away. The next item she took out was the book. "Hey it's my novel!"

Yoshika sat down in her chair and said, "Yeah I found it on the bed."

Lynne hugged Yoshika, and put the book down. "Thanks, I've been trying to find something to do lately. Hospitals are so boring…"

Yoshika couldn't blame her. While the room looked a little nice, it was still very drab and boring like the rest of the base. Yoshika heard Mio's voice from the ground. She walked to the window and saw the guys running through the base. A few of them saw her and slowed down. Unfortunately, the area was pretty narrow and soon enough all the boys were just staring at Yoshika at the window, some were even catcalling her.

Lynne looked outside and saw all the boys, "Hey Yoshika? Is that your fan club?"

Yoshika closed the window and turned around. "Nope it's just-

Mio's voice boomed through the window, "WHY IN GODS NAME HAVEN'T YOU BOYS LEARNED HOW TO GET IN A DAMN LINE? MINNA! MOW THEM DOWN!"

The engine became exceptionally loud and the boys quickly left the hospital.

Finishing her sentence, Yoshika nonchalantly said, "It's nothing."

Lynne giggled and said, "Well, at least it's lively in the morning. How have you been?"

Yoshika averted her eyes. "I've been fine." She couldn't say anymore. No one knows about the project and her involvement. Usually she could say anything to Lynne, but now this secret was too important to say. At the same time, she played with the chance to tell Lynne about how she could regain her magic, but the words wouldn't come out.

After an awkward silence, Lynne said, "How have you been holding up without your magic?"

Yoshika snapped out of her trance. "Its been fine, I kind of miss being in the striker though…"

_Should I tell her?_

After a moment Yoshika continued, "Otherwise I haven't really missed my magic at all."

Lynne looked at her. There was a twinge of sadness as Yoshika said that.

Yoshika looked away quickly to prevent her emotions from taking over. It wasn't like her to hide, but getting Lynne involved wouldn't help at all.

As she looked at the clock Lynne reached out and held her hand. "Yoshika, don't worry too much about your magic. If you lose something that is a part of you, you will usually find it again. Keep acting as if it's still there, it will make the days a bit brighter."

Yoshika's eyes started to tear up. "Thank… You… "

Lynne lay back down in the bed and closed her eyes. Yoshika quietly bade goodbye and left. As she left Lynne thought quietly,

_Please believe in that Yoshika… It's all the help I can give you… Whatever you're facing now… I wish you luck._

* * *

When Yoshika left, the clock said 1030. While her talk with Lynne was uneventful it was also refreshing as well. The sky seemed a lot brighter. As she walked on there was a boy who walked up to her. He was wearing a Karsland uniform and seemed a bit nice.

"Hello there… Captain Miyafuji right?" he said. He smiled and stuck out his hand.

Yoshika was a bit confused how to talk to the boy. She was never really around boys in her life. She decided to be friendly and say hello. "Hello there…"

"It's Schmidt." He answered. "Sergeant Schmidt."

She stuck her hand out and shook Schmidt's hand. "It's nice to meet you. Well, I need to get going; I have some things to do." Yoshika ran off.

Schmidt looked at her for a few moments and smirked. He turned around and saw Minna right in front of him.

"Uhh… Colonel… I can explain…." He backed away as quickly as possible.

"Sgt. Schmidt…I need to talk to you about something. Come with me." She pointed at the jeep.

"Fine…" He got inside the jeep. Minna got in the driver's seat.

They drove for a little while in complete silence. Slowly, Minna broke the silence. "Don't you know I don't want fraternizing between the boys and girls? Sheesh... You boys haven't been listening to us very often."

Schmidt looked out at the land beyond the base and said, "Well it's because you are always trying to kill us. Ever thought of treating us like people?"

Minna sighed, "When you catcall the girls or disobey orders, what do you think will happen? I'm not dumb though. We will have to work together someday."

Schmidt scoffed. "We are TEENAGE BOYS. What do you want us to do, turn off the horndog hormones?"

Muttering, Minna said, "Well obviously…" She rolled her eyes. "But I am just asking that you be decent around the girls and treat them as much respect as you would treat General Eisen. Is that too hard to ask?"

The jeep started approaching a hangar where the rest of the recruited boys were at. As he got out, he said "Well I can try. I can't promise anything, but I'll see what I can do."

He walked to the door. As he went inside the hangar Minna sighed, "I guess some of these boys are worthy of respect after all."

Yoshika entered the R&D hangar. There were multiple scientists testing parts and Guardian was directing a bunch of them with a blueprint of what looks to be a new design. As she walked in a man stopped her.

"Why are you here little girl? This is a place for authorized-"He quickly stopped.

Yoshika looked at him closely and remembered him from yesterday. He was the man who shouted at her for just being there.

He scoffed. "It's just you. Well if you need to get in there go wear what everyone else is wearing. The changing room is in there."

As she walked in the man muttered, "What has this world gone to, Women who are higher ranked that me? Please."

The changing room was empty except for one person who was about to leave. "Ah, Yoshika, I'm guessing you are the new person?"

Yoshika saw Ursula and ran up to her, "Hi Ursula! Yeah, I was told to go get the uniform or something."

Ursula looked around. "Oh ummm… Well here's an extra coat. Now you will also need goggles and gloves…. I think those are…" Ursula walked to a cabinet near the door and found gloves and goggles.

Yoshika put on the lab coat; it was a little big though. Ursula handed her the goggles and gloves.

Ursula walked to the door and said, "Alright, so a crash course on safety. Keep your goggles and gloves on at all times. Make sure your lab coat won't be in the way so you don't trip, and don't touch anything you haven't been specified to touch. Some of the stuff is volatile." She opened the door. "Well I got to get going Yoshika. Good luck with your work." She waved and left the room.

Yoshika left the room and walked towards Guardian who was dismissing the group of researchers to work. He noticed Yoshika and said, "Hello Yoshika. Good to see you are in uniform." He looked at her coat. "Would you like a smaller coat?"

She nodded. "I think its fine. Is there anything you want me to do?"

He looked back at the blueprint. "Hmmm… I would like you to go check on the magic engine that we designed. Hopefully, it will do more good than last time. The group working on the engine is over there by the broken strikers."

She saw the broken strikers. They still had the blood stains from yesterday. The team was breaking down the parts and looking at the engine. Quickly, she walked over there to see what was going on. "So what's going on here?"

One of the researchers said, "Nothing yet, we still don't know what was making the engine go mad." He tried to open the engine.

Yoshika looked at the engine and asked, "Here let me see it." She unscrewed the bolt and twisted the case. The engine opened and she put it down.

As she worked with the team Guardian slowly walked away from the action. He ran into General Eisen as he walked outside.

Eisen saw him and said to him in a firm tone, "Agent Guardian. I'm hoping the project is going well?"

Guardian replied, "Yeah its going fine, General. I put Yoshika into the team and she's working well."

Eisen nodded. "Well I have some troubling news for you Guardian. Command is getting cold feet about the R.E.C.O.N. project."

Guardian looked at him coldly. "Again? Shit… "

Eisen gave him a piece of paper. "I convinced them to shut up for a week. I want a finished model by then. Got it?"

Guardian looked at the piece of paper. "What the heck is on this?"

Eisen responded, "That's a list of demands those thumbsuckers want. You can ignore it. We aren't part of the goddamn Army anymore… No matter how much they want us to be."

Guardian laughed and said, "Well that's classic you General, never giving in to demands."

Eisen sighed and walked towards a waiting jeep. "I want those strikers by Monday. I'll see you then. Oh and Yoshika is under your direct orders so if you need her just say it."

The jeep drove off. Guardian took a deep breath.

"Well shit. I'm not getting any sleep this week. At least I will have some help from Yoshika."

As he walked inside Eisen was talking to his driver, a hooded figure, and said "Yoshika's finally starting to get busy. Are you sure this will work?"

The driver nodded and said, "She's the only one who can make our plans come to life. I'm only hoping Guardian doesn't mess up."

Eisen thought for a moment. "He won't. We don't have much time though."

The jeep made a right turn and his driver nodded, "A few more weeks until the operation right? She will be done by then."

Eisen agreed with that sentiment. "I can only hope so. We're going to lose lots of loyal soldiers in this. This has to succeed, it's our last stand."

The driver turned to Eisen. "Have the Neuroi gotten that powerful?"

He sighed and looked at the sky. "I wouldn't really know, but this war has gone on too long. We've lost too much, and I fear this is our last chance. I can only hope."

The jeep approached Eisen's office. As Eisen left, the driver said, "Then I guess we leave it all up to her."

Eisen turned around before opening his door and said, "Well, I guess we do. Good day."

The driver saluted and drove away. Eisen quietly looked around his dingy little office. He then turned and looked outside.

He quietly said, "Everything gets a lot harder after this."

* * *

**AN: That took way too long to write. However it is around 5000 words long so I can't exactly complain. So I've finished school for my 11 time... Yeah thats right, I'm a freaking senior now! Woo, get ready world XD. Anyway, Schmidt is going to be a bit more prominent in the next chapter, which is more focused on our recruits instead of the behind the scenes work. The boys and girls to be honest have been all seen as one group of people with no personality. Well that isn't going to happen anymore. The next chapter will have many new characters who will be more prominent during the story. I hope to return with a new chapter within a few weeks or a month at the most. **

**Also I'm hoping to restart One Wish soon. Its been on hiatus for a while now. **

**Well thats all from me! If you have any suggestions then tell me in a review or a pm!  
**


	8. Training Days

A bugle sounded throughout the base. The sun rose over the grassy hill and slowly glistened through the windows of the barracks. A few boys were snoring in the room and ignored the bases wake up call.

Schmidt woke up and listened to the song. When it finished, he put in earplugs. He didn't want to be part of this day's punishment.

As he put on his uniform, he looked outside and saw that Minna and Mio were walking towards the barracks. Schmidt finished dressing up and walked outside.

He saluted them and said, "Good Morning ma'am."

They saluted back and went inside the barracks. He stood there as the base awoke to today's punishment of the boys. Schmidt snickered and pulled off the ear plugs. He started to walk towards the dining area; this week had them going in first for breakfast.

The recruits switched breakfast shifts every week. The girls were relatively good at getting there when Breakfast started. The boys… well… needed to be retrained.

Schmidt walked into an empty dining room and grabbed his breakfast. Within 5 minutes the first boys came in to get their breakfast. Some of them came in looking messy, some without belts, some without their uniforms buttoned, and for some reason, some without their pants.

A boy of slim, yet tall build grabbed his food and sat at the table Schmidt was sitting at.

"Alright Schmidt, what's the deal with being the goody two shoes?", he said as he rubbed his head.

"So I could do this Bates." He leaned over and smacked the boy in the head.

"Owww you MOTHER-!" He stopped quickly.

Minna walked up next to the boy. She said, "Well go on Private Bates… finish it."

"No way ma'am. I don't want to get killed by an old hag like you." He was blunt. Schmidt gave him credit for having enough guts to say that to a commanding officer, especially someone as famous as Minna.

She stared at him and then punched his head. As she did that she looked at Schmidt and said, "Sgt. Schmidt go find Lt. Colonel Sakamoto outside. She wants to talk to you about something."

Schmidt sighed. "Do I really have to go?"

"Well you know… it's a reward for being the only guy to actually get up on time. You can run laps with the other guys instead you know, they are running an extra 5 laps today." Minna said this as loud as possible.

An outcry swept the room. All the boys quickly looked at Schmidt as a killing intent rose in the room.

Minna rolled her eyes, "You should probably get going… Sakamoto might get impatient."

Schmidt quickly left the room. A few boys tried to trip him.

_Goddamn it Minna, I really didn't need to get singled out there… _

Schmidt found Mio at the Jeep reading a chart. He slowly walked behind her and waited for an answer. Mio motioned Schmidt to come over and look at the charts.

The charts were striker unit blueprints, but the technical jargon prevented Schmidt from understanding anything.

Mio sighed, "You don't understand any of this right?"

He glanced at the charts. "Was I supposed to Ma'am?"

She shook her head and put the charts away. "Alright getting down to business, we need a training dummy for later in the day. Looks like you were picked."

"Is there even a reason I'm being singled out here?" he said.

Mio leaned on the Jeep and said, "Other than the fact that you won't have to run 5 extra laps for actually waking up on time?"

Schmidt smirked at that statement. "So, what exactly are we learning today?"

Mio took a deep breath, "It's a certain skill that is much like the shield you see the Witches use. Its relatively untested though, so I needed someone to try it out later."

He raised his eyebrows. "So you need a Guinea pig."

"Exactly. Now its time for your daily fun run." Mio started the jeep. "Get in the back Sergeant, Colonel Wilcke is coming. Hey Minna."

Minna nodded, got into the passenger seat and looked back. "So Schmidt, do you like your new job?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's great you know; I really do love being made the division guinea pig."

"Well keep that attitude up and you will be the division's janitor after meatloaf night." Minna shot back.

"Yes Ma'am." He meekly said.

Schmidt looked at the boys slowly filing out of the dining room. They shot dirty looks at Schmidt as he waved at them. The boy named Bates then pointed at him and shook his fist.

"Okay, if hes that mad, he doesn't have to be rude about it." Schmidt said as he rolled his eyes.

"Alright Schmidt, enough looking pretty, we have to go." Mio put the Jeep into gear and followed the boys to the entrance of the base.

Schmidt got out and walked towards a group of boys that also included Bates. He wondered how they even became friends, because it was a coincidence they all knew the same language, let alone how their personalities even let them _talk_ to each other.

John Bates was the tall one of the group. His height was just past 2 meters and he towered over many of his comrades. He was also very loud and prideful, to which on the first day he declared he was a proud citizen of Liberion, and in his words, "The best damn country on the planet". His appearance was disheveled at best and sloppy at worst, which made him easily noticeable to commanding officers and what made things worse was that he had red hair.

While Bates was the tall one in the group, he was not exactly the intelligent one in the group. The intelligent one of the group was an average height, dark haired Britannian who seemed to love mocking Bates at every idiotic thing he says. When Schmidt first met him he found out that his name was Frost, Windsor Frost. Some people called him "Ice", apparently because Frost wasn't cool enough.

Standing to Frost's left was a 16 year old guy from Romagna, Emilio Adagio. This guy didn't speak much, but he was a good friend of Frost so there he was. He was taller than Frost, but just an inch or two shorter than Bates. He mainly kept to himself, but he did seem very kind when people were in trouble.

Finally there was a boy from Fuso named Yuusuke Takashi. He was very quiet like Adagio, but words aren't the only thing people use to communicate. Bates seemed to dislike him, and the feeling was mutual from Takashi as well.

As Schmidt walked up to the guys, Frost noticed him and towards Schmidt. "Well well", he said, "The king is back from kissing some ass." He rolled his eyes.

"So what the hell did Sakamoto want Schmidt?" Bates said.

"Apparently there's something other than running we are doing today." He said while hiding important information.

A horn blared all around the boys, signaling the start of the run. Mio got out of the driver's seat and grabbed the Megaphone. "Alright maggots, because you guys suck at getting up, we're doing running around the whole base again as punishment."

Many of the boys grumbled at the punishment. Mio was not amused. "Hey! I have a better idea, instead of making you only run around the whole base today, we can have you clean all buildings with a toothbrush!" Like magic, they quickly quieted down. "Alright at my count of 3. 1. 2. 3!" The boys quickly left the yard and started their daily runs around the base.

The base was quite small compared to conventional military bases; it had a total area of 5 square kilometers, excluding the runways surrounding the base. It was built into an oval shape, and the route the boys would run is about 4.3 kilometers. Usually they would run about 3 full circles a day, but today was especially brutal, and they would run 6 full laps. This did not include the 5 extra as punishment.

For the people working inside however, it was a daily sight to see the boys running around and many of the girls looked down upon them for it. If anything, the people keeping the rivalry between boys and girls were some of the girls themselves. Today was a special day to them however. They would get to fly Strikers for the first time since the incident.

The Strikers themselves were tested thoroughly and had to be cleared by Command before they were even let in. At the same time, there were 20 strikers on patrol making sure that nothing happened today.

Gertrude briefed the girls on the main point of this training. "Alright girls, you may have been trained in your home countries on basic striker usage. However, in battle you can and will use different skills than the basics that you have been taught. Now because it's a special day today, I will be a little bit lenient and let you girls brush up on your skills outside for a while. Alright, get out there!"

Many of the girls stayed in groups based on their countries. It was a funny look, as national stereotypes seemed to dominate these groups; the idiotic loud Liberions, Snobby and spoiled Britannians, Militaristic and Stick-in-the mud Karslanders, and so on. From a commander's standpoint, the boys looked absolutely wonderful at this point, mainly because their groups were quite diverse. The girls also tended to have rivalries with each other, notably Karsland and Liberion, and the Gallian versus Britannia spat. It was all civil of course, but it was quite tense at times. However, today was a different day, and the girls put aside their differences for now and quickly got into their strikers.

One Britannian girl named Alice started talking to the Liberion girl next to her. "Hey Chloe, do you see those boys?"

She responded, "Yeah what about them?"

Alice gave her a mischievous smile and said, "Let's pay them a visit."

Chloe misunderstood her and started to get out of the striker.

"I didn't mean it literally you cow!" Alice said.

Chloe got back in and rolled her eyes. "It would have been nice to know thanks!"

The girls started to push off with their strikers gaining air as they launched off. The two girls quickly flew parallel to the boys, although at a higher distance.

Alice said, "Alright, we dive and turn around at 3. Ready?"

Chloe nodded.

"One. Two. Three!" Alice and Chloe made a steep dive that alerted Gertrud as she watched.

As she was about to shout into the radio, the girls quickly righted themselves parallel to the ground, allowing Gertrud to sigh in relief.

They gained in speed right as they approached the jeep marking the tail end of the boys. At that moment, 2 other girls joined in.

One girl shouted, "Hey Alice, we can't let you have all the fun around here now can we?"

Alice quickly spat out, "Oh be quiet Molly, I'm trying to have fun!"

Molly laughed and said, "So am I… So am I…"

Chloe looked at the other girl. "Who are you?"

"I'm Anna.", the girl said quietly.

Chloe looked at her, nodded, and said, "Oh alright."

The girls sped past the jeep just high enough to prevent anyone from getting hit by them. As they passed the first few boys, the 4 girls didn't get a reaction. It wasn't until Alice realized she was flying too low that the boys would react. A crowd of boys heard her coming and jumped out of the way, some of them shouting obscenities. The other 3 girls broke off and flew back to the other area, as they noticed strikers coming in quickly from the sky. Alice then pulled up to avoid another half track, which crashed into a building.

"Whoa… That wasn't part of the plan." She remarked.

"No it was not Private Walker, now is it?" a voice said behind her.

"… Major Barkhorn…?" Alice quietly whimpered as she turned around.

"Come down with me young lady." Gertrude said coldly.

4 other strikers surrounded Gertrud. She asked them, "Did you get the other 3?"

None of them said a word, but Gertrud nodded and looked down. "Erica!"

Erica flew up from under. "Yes Trude?"

Gertrude looked at the commotion created by the crashed half-track. "Who's building is that?"

Erica also looked down. "That's the Administration Building."

Gertrude facepalmed and dragged Alice away with the 4 strikers following.

Schmidt and his group were quite far from the action, except for Frost but he's always been behind.

Bates tried to see what happened. "What in the hell was that?"

Schmidt kept going. "Just keep going, that way we look better…"

However, Bates walked over and grabbed him. "Hey speedy, there's no one to impress right now, we have an open road."

The rest of the group sat down as Bates strained to see what happened. "Hey Takashi, you have sniper eyes, show me what the hell is over there."

Takashi stood up and kicked him in the groin. "It's not sniper eyes you ignorant oaf." Takashi sat back down.

Frost ran up, apparently oblivious to what happened. He looked at a groaning Bates. "So, what did I miss?"

Schmidt looked back at the supposed action. "Apparently something happened."

Frost turned around and said, "Oh that thing… Yeah, Colonel Wilcke said because of those idiot girls the run is cancelled."

Bates sat back up still wincing from the kick. "So you mean the rest of the guys are going back?"

Frost nodded, "No, she forced everyone to complete their laps. Unfortunately for us, I just passed into the next lap so we still have to finish."

Schmidt got up and told everyone, "Well let's finish this already, I really don't want to be stuck out here."

Bates whined, "Give me a moment I was kicked in my freaking balls!"

Smirking Frost said, "I'm surprised you have any."

Adagio got up and dragged Bates up from off the ground.

Schmidt sighed and said, "We should get going."

Takashi got up and started running. Frost started running after him and Adagio followed.

Bates then slowly got up ran after them.

When the boys had finished their lap, Mio was standing at the front gate. "What took you guys so long? I've been waiting for 15 minutes already. Oh well. Let's get going."

Mio drove the boys to an unfamiliar area. This area was near the base but it wasn't inside the complex itself. There were multiple structures in the distance, but they were too far to take in any detail. Ahead Schmidt saw Minna and the rest of the boys. Including them were extra soldiers that usually didn't deal with strikers. Minna noticed that the group was coming and nodded to one of the soldiers. The soldiers quickly left and walked quickly towards the structures. However one of them stayed. As the group went to sit down, Schmidt stayed standing as he was the guinea pig for today. He and Mio walked to the front of the boys.

Minna started to talk. "Alright, so here is a special trainer from Karsland, Sergeant Lehrer." Lehrer walked forward. He wore the normal uniform of the Karsland Imperial Guard; however his dark blue look contrasted with the white of the recruits. "He comes here with a group of his best drill sergeants from the Imperial Guard's Headquarters to train you boys into shape. The training before was just a warm up. It will be nothing compared to now. Every day after your run, you will report here for training. Keep in mind, how well you do in training will affect your roles in future battles. So don't blow this off."

Lehrer began talking. He spoke in a heavy accent, but it was plain and quick to the point so most people understood him. "I am Sgt. Lehrer. I may look ridiculous to you right now, but I am your worst nightmare. Like Colonel Wilcke said, this training will be tough, and it will push you to your limits. Be forewarned… I do not tolerate failure. However, I am not an unreasonable man, and I think of you as mere children to me. When you are done here, you will be equals or even better than I will ever be."

Schmidt remembered him from his days when he was training to become an Imperial Guard. He had just begun when a notice to leave immediately for Gallia came. Had he not been inducted into this place, maybe he would have been part of the Guard his family wanted him to be in so much. The Guard were the protectors of the Emperor and his immediate family, but they also were the role model the army would look up to thus giving extremely high respect to any one chosen to become a Guard. When Schmidt received his summons, his family was not at all pleased.

Mio nudged Schmidt. "Stop daydreaming, it's our turn." Mio and Schmidt walked up. "Alright, now for something more fun than listening to these guys." Minna rolled her eyes and lead Lehrer away. "So right now I have Sgt. Schmidt to demonstrate to you guys this new technique only you will learn."

Many of the boys started to pay attention at that moment.

Mio continued on. "This technique is the offensive version of the Witches barrier shield. Instead of manifesting a shield you will manifest a weapon using your magic. It's not very hard to do, but it's extremely hard to master. Schmidt, stick out your hand."

He moved out his hand. Mio then told him, "Alright now you need to clear your mind and let the magic flow.

Schmidt closed his eyes and cleared his mind. All the thoughts he had slowly filtered out and a new feeling of power spread throughout his body.

While watching Mio said, "When you do that, focus your mind to attack and concentrate your magic into your hand."

Schmidt imagined himself attacking an enemy and focused all his magic into his hand. A new feeling appeared in his hand. It was cold and metallic, but it was very light. He opened his eyes.

Mio commented, "Wow, a Gewher 98. Haven't seen those in a while. This is the final form of this technique, the weapon itself. Schmidt, look at your weapon and describe it to me."

With her order Schmidt looked at the gun, it was dark black and imprinted with intricate markings. "It has details that aren't on standard weapons… Its lighter and longer than normal…"

Nodding, Mio then said, "Fire at the target."

Schmidt aimed his gun. The target was at least 20 meters away, and quite small. He fired and the gun emitted a bright blue shot that instantaneously hit the target which exploded into bits. Schmidt was taken aback at the power of his newfound weapon and briefly forgot about it as he wondered what the heck just happened. The moment he did that though, the weapon quickly disappeared into light. Many of the boys were surprised at the power as well.

Picking Schmidt up Mio moved on. "This brings me to my first pitfall of this technique. You need to stay focused. The weapon is made from your focused energy, same with the shots. The second pitfall is the amount of magic focused is proportional to the power of the weapon. Overfocusing your magic might give you a very powerful weapon, but it also draws essential power from vital areas. The result? You lose your powers. Permenantly." A few gasps came in from the crowd. "Also, overfocusing will also make your weapon unstable, and it might disappear randomly. Enough talk though, let's get you guys moving. Your weapons will all be different; it's based on your magic and personality."

The boys all stood up and got in lines. Mio began to call out orders.

"Hand!"

They stuck out their hands.

"Clear your mind!" Mio felt the magic from all the boys. It was exceptionally powerful; something that Mio hadn't felt since Yoshika trained in front of her.

_Could it be? _ She thought this to herself and almost forgot to give the next order.

"Unleash the magic onto your hand!" Multiple weapons started appearing on the boys hands, but empty hands dominated most of them.

"I said to clear your mind! Everyone who got a weapon in their hand can sit down. Everyone else, do it again!"

For the next half hour, Mio grilled the boys who didn't learn to focus their minds.

Finally after the last boy had gained his weapon, "Okay everyone get up and do it again, and this time try to keep your weapons."

"On three. One. Two. Three!" This time everyone had a weapon, but a few lost it after the first few seconds.

"For the boys that messed up, do it again on 3! One. Two. Three!" The boys easily kept their weapon this time.

"For today, we will be training your focus under duress. If you look to your right, there is an obstacle course, and you will run it until you can keep your weapon sustained until the end. Failure is not tolerated. Let's get moving everyone."

As Mio lead everyone to the obstacle course, she couldn't get that thought out of her mind.

_Yoshika equaled all those boys focusing their magic… But will she ever realize her true potential…_

Schmidt caught up with the guys, who were all holding their weapons.

Bates was showing off his weapon. "How do you like it? It's a Liberion made M1919 Automatic Rifle. It's the best Machine Gun in the world! Also look at the rifle butt," He showed it off, it gleamed in the sun slightly glittering and the rifle had a custom engraved with a skull on both sides. "Hey what are your guns guys?"

The rest of the groups showed their guns off. Along with Schmidt's Gewher 98, Frost had a Sten Mark II, and its size was a bit small compared to the other guys.

Frost looked at everyone else's guns and said, "This in no way proves anything about us physically or mentally."

Bates was snickering at that comment, "Someone is a little short in the barrel."

"So says the guy whose gun is so obviously compensating for something." Frost quickly snapped. "Anyway, let's see Takashi's and Emilios guns."

Takashi showed his gun next, an Arisaka Type 99, complete with a sniper scope. The rifle butt was not as flashy as Bates' gun, but it was obvious by its engraving of a crosshair.

Finally Adagio showed off his gun. This gun was a Beretta Modello 38, but curiously, the submachine gun had been modified to hold a drum magazine instead of a long box magazine.

Bates looked at the gun and said, "Wait a moment… Doesn't this have a box mag?"

Emilio shrugged as Mio started to bark out orders.

"Alright boys, this obstacle course will test your endurance and focus. You must keep your gun throughout the course and follow all instructions by the drill sergeants. Get moving!"

The course started off as a sprinting straight away, many of the boys with lighter guns easily got the lead, but Schmidt realized that it wasn't always good to have it easy.

"Private Martin, you lost your gun! Go back to start!" a drill sergeant started taking out people. "Corporal Desmond, Private Fujisaka, Private LeBlanc, go back to start!"

Running while maintaining the magic holding the gun together was tough, but this was the easiest part of more to come.

Schmidt saw Takashi and Bates quickly passing him, but Bates then tripped over the tires and lost his gun in the process.

"Private Bates, go back to start!" a drill sergeant shouted.

"What the hell, Takashi tripped me!" Bates shouted back. Takashi was already far past the tires.

"Bates, did you just shout at a superior?" the drill sergeant replied.

"No, sir. Sorry sir." He meekly ran back to start.

Schmidt took on the tires and climbed a tough hill. He was finding it hard to keep the gun materialized.

Lehrer stood at the side of the monkey bars. "Get up those monkey bars soldier!"

One boy shouted, "How the hell are we supposed to get up there with our guns sir?"

Lehrer replied back, "Well I don't know, think of a way to get you and your gun up onto those monkey bars soldier!"

Many boys tried to climb the monkey bars with their gun in their teeth. Obviously, when they started slipping, their gun disappeared.

Some boys decided now would be a good time to take a breath and think of a way up. Their guns also quickly disappeared.

Schmidt thought to himself as he walked up to the bars.

_Isn't this a bit sadistic for an obstacle course to have something like THAT as a MIDDLE obstacle?_

Many boys were starting to pile up at the bars. Lehrer was standing there smiling smugly as he listened to all the boys complaining.

"There's no way in hell we can do anything like that!" One boy shouted as he pointed his finger at the bars.

Lehrer looked amused. "How about thinking about it for a minute instead of shouting at me?"

Another boy also shouted back, "But we weren't supposed to lose focus on our guns!" Many boys agreed with that sentiment.

Lehrer shrugged and said, "Right, and I guess I can't walk and think about smacking you in the head either."

Schmidt ignored the crowd and started to think. He felt the gun getting weaker in his hands.

_Shit! Every time I think about anything else, the damn gun won't live. When the hell was controlling magic this hard?_

He looked at his gun for a moment. He pumped magic in and thought quickly.

_Wait; did Lehrer just give us a clue? If he meant that we can walk and think at the same time…_

The gun was fading yet again, and Schmidt looked at the gun again.

_Okay, so then I should be able to let my mind have a conscious thought __while__ supplying a constant amount of magic to the gun… I better try this theory out._

Schmidt started to let his mind stop focusing on the gun, and let that feeling of magic guide him.

_Okay, now how the hell am I going to get up there… The gun is still solid so that means I was correct about my theory._

A loud crowd started shouting. Schmidt looked up and kept his magic check at the back of his mind. A boy had gotten onto the bars and his gun was on his back. However, it was quite a struggle for him to keep going, as it seemed like he had to stop and check his gun every time. Just before the end, the boy fell into the mud under the bars and walked back.

Lehrer commented, "It was a good idea, but it just required too much for you."

Schmidt looked back down and felt his gun.

_We need to be able to carry our guns without using our hands but how are we supposed to do that? I can't just add a part to my gun whenever I feel like it. Wait, can I?_

He looked at his gun, and looked for a useless part.

_Hmm… I don't need the magazine; mine will be a one shot._

The gun slowly started to glow and the box mag started to disappear into light.

_The gun is made of my magic; therefore I can do whatever to it. So if I need a way up there without holding my gun… A sling?_

Schmidt immediately started to change his image of the gun to add a sling.

A weak glow started to form at two points of the gun. The glow started to arc and connect at one point and then started to fade away. A sling had formed in its place.

Schmidt got up and quickly ran towards the bars. He was about to get up until he noticed Frost crossing the bars. He took a different route than Schmidt did and it still worked. Frost was using one arm to cross the bars while his gun was in the other hand. He crossed it after a few minutes, but he was heavily panting.

Lehrer smiled and said, "Well… Not what I had expected but it worked I guess." Schmidt ran up and climbed the monkey bars. At that point many boys realized that they could make their guns be useful to them and quickly tried to replicate Schmidt's method to get across.

The course then took the recruits into more familiar territory with crawling through barbed wire, and climbing walls. However they were nothing compared to the monkey bars.

Schmidt finished 4th in a group of 100. Mio commented, "Schmidt, I think you were the only one we didn't send back to start."

He replied back, "Right… But why is everyone laying on the ground?"

Mio looked at them. "Oh don't worry about them. They had to restart at least once and then you add that they were sprinting through this course… I'm still surprised you are still standing."

Lehrer walked up from behind. "Lt. Colonel Sakamoto, the last of the recruits are finished passing the monkey bars. To be honest, I don't think they are close to what General Eisen is looking for, they can't adapt to a new situation. We are going to need a lot of work if we will be able to make them into soldiers." He looked at Schmidt. "Sgt. Schmidt right?"

Schmidt replied, "Yes sir."

Lehrer turned towards the lifeless guys on the ground. "Maybe I was too harsh. You might become a fine soldier one day. If you survive my training that is." He winked and saluted Mio.

Mio saluted back and said, "Alright Lehrer, let's give these boys a break for today. They did more than we expected they would be able to do."

Lehrer stopped. He was silent for a few minutes. The recruits kept pouring in. "Lt. Colonel… You do realize the Neuroi never take a break right?"

Mio didn't reply. Lehrer continued on. "A storms brewing… We must be ready."

Mio smirked and looked at the boys. "We will be. We have no choice. Lehrer I have a challenge for you. Train these boys to be the best damn force against the Neuroi we have within one week."

Lehrer looked back with a glimmer in his eye and said quietly, "Tell the boys to get ready. This will be their first week in hell."

Mio laughed as she watched Lehrer walk away. "Schmidt you should know this but if you don't, Lehrer isn't just a good trainer, he will find your main weakness and attack it constantly. When you have finally been able to remedy that, he's already found another weakness to pick on. You and the rest of the recruits will go into hell and end up coming out as warriors. Are you ready?"

For Schmidt this was an easy answer. "I'm ready."

Mio sighed and looked at the tired recruits. "I sure as hell hope the rest of us are too."

* * *

**AN: I need to say a few things. One, this is quite literally the hardest chapter I have ever written, and if it seems to drag on, its probably because I was trying to find a good stopping point that doesnt end on a cliffhanger. Second, this part was _supposed_ to have a cliff hanger, but after reaching 5000+ words, I just tried to end it. Third, the cliffhanger will be in the next chapter. At least your normal programming comes back next chapter right? Yoshika is again the focus of the heavy chapters, but action will happen soon. I just needed to create some backstory so everything ties together well. **

**How did you like these characters, I had to rewrite the main guys about 3 times before using the current characters in the story, but I like them better than copies of myself in the first draft... I'd like your opinions and ideas!**

**Next chapter won't even have a planned release date. I work faster that way apparently.**

**Well this is Poke signing out. Ill see you guys soon. Maybe. Hopefully. Okay that's enough worrying.  
**


	9. Yoshika's Sighs

"I want prototype engine part C-131 over at the table now, Ferro!" Yoshika shouted to the man grabbing an engine part.

It had been 3 days since Yoshika began her involvement with the R.E.C.O.N. project. Within those 3 days she had pinpointed much of the parts that could have caused problems on the first test and had the research teams building prototypes to replace the engines. Many of the research teams were striker engineers from other countries, but mostly from Britannia. Yoshika wondered if any of them knew her dad, but no one said anything about him. Guardian came out of his room to see Yoshika overseeing the engine assembly.

He called out to her. "Captain Miyafuji, there will be a meeting in 10 minutes; I'd like you to finish up for now and meet me in my office to go to the meeting."

Yoshika nodded and gave out some final orders. "Research Team A, I want a report on the chassis before I come back. Research Teams B and C, I also want a report on your assignments. Research Team D, start getting that engine built ASAP."

Everyone replied, "Yes Ma'am!"

It didn't take long for Yoshika to take a leadership role, it really helped block out other thoughts that could have occupied her at the time. The engineers quickly learned Yoshika had read the notes of the famed Ichiro Miyafuji, but did not want to say anything as they also knew of what happened to him back in Britannia. After her final orders for the time being she headed over to Guardians office.

The office seemed cleaner than before, but it was still a bit cramped. Agent Guardian was not in the room when she entered but she sat down and waited for him to return. Guardian returned wearing a different look than his mask. He had on sunglasses with a covering over his mouth and nose. To Yoshika's surprise he was not pale underneath his skin, as would anyone be if they were under a mask that often, but he was quite brown in complexion.

"Well this is my maskless face. I don't need to show my mouth or eyes though, that's how I roll. Surprised?" He got a jacket that showed his old division in the Egyptian army. The jacket was a faded green with stitching ripped out. He looked up and said, "Yoshika, the jacket is not mine, this is a hand me down. So don't think you know where I come from yet. Let's get going." They walked out and went to the back of the hangar. It was quite dark, but knowing Guardian he would try to hide his looks as much as possible. They got into a jeep with 2 other people inside it.

The passenger was General Eisen and his driver was a hooded figure that Yoshika could not see the face of. Guardian and her climbed into the backseat.

The general looked at the both of them. "Well nice of you to join us Agent Guardian and Captain Miyafuji."

Guardian nodded. "Hello again General."

Yoshika also nodded quietly. The jeep started to drive away. Eisen began talking to Guardian.

"The meeting is in the administration building." He said. "Unfortunately we have to get a smaller room than I hoped for."

Guardian said, "What was the problem?"

Eisen sighed and replied, "Well some idiots were flying too low to the ground and scared a poor driver into the wall. Those half tracks are built so well... not a scratch on them…."

The jeep sped past the dining room where the boys were just leaving from lunch. Yoshika saw Schmidt in the crowd but he didn't really notice. He just stared quietly at out into space.

Guardian then asked, "So what's the meeting about General?"

As the driver turned left, Eisen said, "Well it's mainly about R.E.C.O.N. but there's some other things I will discuss there."

The side of the administration building closest to the entrance had been blocked off and soldiers were hauling in bricks to replace the wall. The jeep stopped at the side of the administration building and everyone entered the building. The building was small; it had only 5 rooms, including the entrance hall. The room to the right had been blocked off, as the building's wall had been taken out in that room. They then went into the room to the left which was just as big as the right room. The only reason they didn't want to use it was because they had the whole filing system in there. A table with blueprints and models was placed in the room. As they entered the room there were 3 other people in the room who stood up to salute General Eisen.

He entered quickly and said, "At ease." He sat down as quickly as he entered the room.

Everyone else quickly found seats at the side of the table. Guardian began to speak, "So everyone here, this is our new head researcher Captain Yoshika Miyafuji. She will be in these talks until we finish the project. She will be contacted over anything pertaining to the project. Miyafuji this is Lt. General Groves from Liberion, Air General Garner from Gallia, Colonel Williams from Britannia," Then Guardian pointed to the hooded figure, "Dr. Kazuo Kudou from Fuso. These men are here as representatives from the countries that are funding this program."

Groves spoke first, "I am only here to see how this project can help us in the future. The country of Liberion will fund anything that will help us stop the Neuroi threat." He sat down and then Garner stood up.

In a husky and heavy accent he said, "The great republic of Gallia also wants this project to be successful and will hope our investments will not go in vain. We have high hopes for you Miyafuji, daughter of Ichiro."

Yoshika blushed in embarrassment and shifted her eyes to the floor. Colonel Williams stood up after Garner sat down.

He said, "Britannia has been a historic user of the witches and we would be honored to fund this program." As he sat down Eisen quickly got to work.

Eisen got up and flipped a piece of paper, "Okay, enough pleasantries, lets get to our main point of business. The meeting was called today to get an update on the R.E.C.O.N. project. Agent Guardian is our head of the department and he will explain what is going on."

Yoshika watched Guardian get up and explain all the intricate parts of the striker. Many of the parts had been improved thanks to her input but from the way Guardian took questions, there was even more uncertainty.

Williams asked, "Okay, so we have 3 fighters we are funding rather than 1 now? Wouldn't that increase costs?"

Guardian paused at this. "Well, they would all be based on the same parts, but there would be aspects that make them distinct. If we take the high altitude striker for example…"

A picture came up highlighting the different areas of the striker. Guardian pointed at the winged part of the striker. "Look at the winged part, its wingspan is huge. If we are to use the successes of the high altitude striker on the commando striker, we need to make some major changes so we can use it to fit our project goal.

Garner then asked dryly, "Well what in the hell is this goal?"

Eisen replied, "If you must ask General, its to gain air superiority in the war against the Neuroi."

Garner thought for a moment; he looked a bit frustrated with that answer and asked with an annoyed tone, "When we do win this war, what can R.E.C.O.N. strikers be used for in the peacetime?"

Eisen was about to reply, but Groves quickly answered that question with a subtle condescending tone, "Garner are you afraid of your own project? The striker's will be used properly according to the Conventions."

"There ARE no conventions on strikers, Groves!" Garner replied back.

The meeting seemed to turn into a shouting match until Eisen intervened. "That will be enough gentlemen. We are here for the R.E.C.O.N. Project and nothing more. I request that we finish this discussion at a later time."

Guardian continued on. "Look, the point is that we have 2 striker models that need to be made. The High Altitude striker is almost done, I need to make adjustments, but it is essentially done. The commando is missing wings, and I would like for the striker itself to use magic powered jet engines."

Williams raised his hand and asked a question. "What is the point of using Jet Engines?"

To Yoshika's surprise, the normally silent Kudou answered that question. "The Karsland version used scientific jet engines. The version we are proposing uses magic amplifiers to produce thrust at an efficient point with little in the way of size and heat constraints. At this point in time, we have not tested the viability of the amplifiers as of yet, but I am finding ways to mix the amplifiers with the Karsland jet engines to create an acceptable amount of thrust proportional to the drain of the magic of the user."

Most of the men in the room sat there dumbfounded. Guardian then translated to them what he meant. "Gentlemen, Dr. Kudou is proposing that we use a magitek hybrid for the engine. If we place it in the right place, it could be likely that we can create a way for them to land with their feet. "

Groves and Williams agreed with Guardian. However Garner had a valid point to make about the proposed model.

"Look, if we do put it there, where will the wings go? They need to be far enough back to give control, but they need to be far enough forward to fit the engine."

The men were stumped. Kudou did not answer this question, and went back to silence. Yoshika looked at the designs.

_We need to create an attack striker… So what would give speed but also control at the same time? The engines they are adding will end up making the striker a high speed attack with little control…._

Guardian then tried to create some ideas. "Okay, so lets assume it's a dogfight with Neuroi, what would we prefer in that situation?

Williams answered control, and everyone agreed.

_Wings that give control even at high speeds…_

Groves then asked a question, "Well while you would want control, how could we also allow it to cruise at a speed?

_So the wing question really is: Control, Speed, and Endurance ability? Wait, there's something missing…_

Yoshika talked for the first time. It was nerve wracking but it was an essential question. "What about the wing size?"

The men stared at her for a minute. Many of them did not look at her negatively, but it was more in surprise. They hadn't expected her to ask such a question.

Guardian looked over the designs. "Hmm, that's something we didn't account for. Miyafuji are you on to something?"

Miyafuji stuttered at first, "U-U-um yes, I-I have an idea as to what we can do." She started to gain confidence in herself as she talked more. "From your responses here, you want a wing that provides Control, Speed, and Endurance. There aren't any fixed wings that can do this."

Garner sighed. "So are you saying this is literally a problem of magic and not science? I don't believe this."

Williams growled, "Quiet Garner. I think I can see what she means. Captain Miyafuji, when you mean "fixed" you mean unmoving wings don't you?"

Miyafuji nodded. "Agent Guardian, may I take the pen?"

Guardian nodded and let her have the floor.

She started to draw something that looked a lot like the Vitruvius man, but it replaced the man with a plane and the arms with wings. "Look at this drawing. If we focus on the wings you can see that the wings conceivably could move anywhere they could possibly move. Now let's assume the situation requires a high speed, low drag situation." She points at the last wing on the drawing, it was as close as it could be to the body and it seemed part of the plane itself. "Then we could use this wing for that situation. Now let's say we want a high control, low speed." Yoshika pointed at a wing that was fully extended out. It wasn't at the very top, but it was closer to the middle. "So really, what we want here is a wing that can do both. My idea is that we have a wing that does both by movement."

Guardian quickly asked, "Are you saying that the wing will change positions?"

Yoshika nodded. "Correct, but it will be powered by amount of magic pumping through the system. I am assuming this, however, that we will use a magitek hybrid engine to power the new striker."

Eisen smiled and stood up. "Okay I agree with this idea. Does anyone have any objections?"

Williams and Groves nodded their heads. Garner was the last general to say something. "I think… it's a good idea… However, I think that we should have tests before this is mass produced."

Eisen then said, "Okay then, Captain Miyafuji, you have 1 week to build your tests. Now that we have a good plan of the commando striker, I have some intel involving the war."

The generals were handed folders from the secretaries. Eisen continued, "Alright, so Army Black Ops squads have been deployed all over the Karsland/Orussian areas and there have been troubling signs involving the Neuroi. Follow along as I draw the arrows."

A map of Karsland and Orussia came into view. Eisen drew a circle where the base was at; it was very close to the Gallian Border and slightly went into Karsland. He then drew an arrow towards them from Orussia. "The tracking of black ops shows a heavy Neuroi presence near the capital of Karsland. Now, I have never seen this kind of organizational effort by the Neuroi in my life. There are no known hives, and yet they are moving forces into different areas. I can only assume that they will start an attack. We need to be ready for this attack as soon as possible."

As Eisen talked, Guardian pulled Yoshika aside to talk to her. "The rest of this meeting is a strategic meeting. I need to stay to give a report that is classified information. You can go back to the R&D building."

Yoshika saluted and left the room. Guardian took his seat. "What is that General?"

Eisen repeated what he said. "What is the status of the weapon Agent?"

Guardian sat back for a moment. "It's nearing the final stage. If we need to it's able to be deployed but I can't guarantee quality."

Williams sat back amazed. "Wow, how long did you have to work on that Agent?"

"Almost a month sir." He replied smoothly.

Eisen changed the picture to a roll sheet. "Okay we have about 400-500 combat units on base and about 200 support staff/Non combatants. Garner, I need a contingency plan with you ASAP, we will talk later. Williams, can you get any units transferred to Sector K-1 from Royal Air?"

Williams scratched his head for a moment and shuffled some of his papers. "I can't say that I can get a good amount, but I can get some veterans to the front. What about Groves, he has some air on tap?"

Groves nodded and said, "Well that's under ol' Monty's hat now. I don't control any units, not even my own country's units."

Williams sighed and said, "I'll try and get some units transferred here. I can't guarantee much, as that guy has his own uses for the forces he has."

Eisen shut off the projector. The sun shined through the window as signaling that it was midday. "Gentlemen, we are about to undertake the beginning of a long and grueling campaign soon. We will lose many of our friends, comrades, and loved ones. To be honest, I don't even know if we will have enough to beat a force the Neuroi are building up in Karsland at the moment. All I want to say is that we will give them a helluva fight."

The Generals saluted Eisen, packed up and left the room. Guardian stood up. Kudou turned towards Guardian. "Kudou, really? You're lucky she couldn't even tell it was me." He removed the hood. Brown frame glasses shined in the light.

Guardian didn't turn around and replied coldly, "_Miyafuji Ichiro_, your own daughter is following in your damn footsteps because you won't even leave a clue about you being alive."

Kazuo took off the hood. "Well I sure as hell am happy shes following in my _damn _footsteps, and I've been leaving clues all over the place. General Eisen needed something to do with Yoshika, because if the press found out she wasn't being sent to Europe even though she's still technically a witch, and a _war hero_ at that, I came up with the idea to load up all my notes on the striker design and dump it in her room. I don't need to do anything; I've already helped her enough!"

Guardian turned around and stared at Kazuo (Ichiro) coldly. "Fine, keep doing what you are doing. Remember though, she's still only 16, and she's been through more than a person her age should have." Guardian walked out of the room.

Eisen, who had been standing quietly in the background, walked up to Kazuo and said, "Miyafuji, Agent Guardian makes a good point. You can't keep hiding."

Ichiro replied, "I know I can't. I also know I can't show myself to her just yet. General, I want to see her I really do, but I won't reveal myself needlessly. I let her have her pleasant memories of me; it's all she has left."

* * *

Yoshika walked back to hangar. It was a quiet and warm day, with a bit of a wind. She didn't say anything, but walked quietly at the side of the road. There was nothing to think about for her, so she walked aimlessly. A buzz came out of the sky and there came a few strikers flying quickly over the base. It was a quiet roar, and Yoshika noticed that there were boys in the strikers rather than the girls. They came in flying close and flew right over Yoshika who pushed out a smile and waved creakily at the flying boys. When she couldn't see them anymore she continued her aimless walk.

After getting back to the Hangar the research teams quickly mobbed her with new information.

A man gave her a piece of paper, "The engine part C-131 worked successfully, we can use this as an improvement over the Karsland Jet Engine models!"

Yoshika looked at the data and said, "Okay I want your team to quickly get moving on modding that Karsland engine and testing that immeadiately we have a new design that will need everyone's research and data in right now."

"Yes ma'am!" The man saluted and ran off to his team.

Yoshika grabbed her lab coat and drew up the new plans. As she drew them up the research teams asked questions about each part of the design.

"How will the wing move?" one asked.

Yoshika flatly said, "Assuming that we will make the magic pipeline for the engine, then they will be powered by how much magic is flowing at one moment of time."

"Where will the engine be situated?" another asked.

"It will be surrounding the leg rather than below it, and will be powered by amplified magic." She quickly said.

The teams quickly went to work on the new plans. Yoshika was running all over the place helping teams build the striker. Kazuo and Guardian came in a few hours later with lunch for the teams. Yoshika did not eat anything and kept on working. Kazuo silently walked over to her table and started to tinker with the engine. Yoshika quietly said, "Please don't touch that, the teams have been working all day on the engines and I don't want their hard work going to waste." She went back to work, but she felt his eyes on her, and she shuddered a bit.

All he could do was make a small smile and say, "Well I'm trying to see how you designed the engine and where I can add amplifiers Miyafuji-san."

She didn't look up from her part. "Please look at the plans then, I'd rather leave those alone until the teams come back from their lunch break."

Kazuo put the part down. "You're really serious about this."

Yoshika looked up. Her light brown eyes seemed faded, tired was a better word, but she showed no physical signs of that. It was like she was tired, but one couldn't tell through her diligent work on the strikers.

Kazuo looked into those eyes and nodded to agree with her request. He walked away, but he would never forget those tired eyes. He thought to himself,

_Is this what Guardian was talking about?_

The teams came back from lunch and Yoshika quickly got teams up to speed on the striker. Soon enough, part after part started getting finished, and were laid out for assembly.

Guardian came down from his office to see her work. "What in the world Yoshika? You already finished?"

A man from a research team quickly said, "She worked with us the whole way and got almost everything done. We don't know where we would be without her."

Yoshika blushed as everyone applauded her achievements. Guardian looked at her, then at the striker.

"How close is this to finished?" he asked enthusiastically.

"We still need to wait until the engine is done before we can wire the pipelines." Yoshika said.

"Well then, I'll get Kazuo working on that ASAP. He's been in a different room working on the designs; wouldn't you believe they were based off of your engine prototypes?"

She nodded, looked back at the striker. "Well I'm flattered, but his design is the catalyst for all this."

Guardian paused for a moment. He looked at this girl of less than 17, and she was already surpassing men twice her age in subjects as difficult as this. She deserved an award, but instead she'd rather pass on the rewards. This confusion made Guardian think,

_Is this her calling? Does she want to do this?_

He came back a few seconds later and realized everyone was waiting for his orders. "Everyone dismissed, get a good rest." He went back up to his room to finish his work. When he came down thirty minutes later he saw Yoshika still working on the striker. "Yoshika, I think that's enough."

"But… Umm…" she tried to say.

"Go to dinner, you haven't eaten all day." He pushed Yoshika out of the door. "See you tomorrow."

Ichiro was standing outside the side room door. "So you see it as well?"

Guardian nodded. "Yeah, she's avoiding the outside world."

Ichiro sighed and slowly walked back in his door, but before he left he said, "I wish I could just tell her everything is going to be alright. Unfortunately that isn't true."

Guardian nodded and said, "I know you feel." Ichiro shut the door as Guardian went back upstairs.

* * *

The sky was tinged with orange as Yoshika walked through the base quietly. She didn't feel hungry, and dinner wasn't that good today. Lynne and her were supposed to have been cooking the food, but neither of them had the time to run over and cook the food of 400 hungry people. Also, the trainees were still out and about training in their respective boot camps, so Yoshika didn't see a need to go to the Dining Hall just yet. She headed for the hill outside of the base. A few hundred meters in front of her there were witch trainees taking off. The strikers they used left a small white trail and quietly lifted them to wherever they wanted to go in the sky.

She sighed and laid down on the soft grass. Her eyes slowly closed as the wind lulled her body into sleep.

She was flying in the sky. That rush of adrenaline throughout her body, the vast space she could travel over, it was a feeling that was unworldly. Yoshika did a few tricks in the sky. However it seemed lonely, as if there was nothing existing within this space. She flew over to a different area. She felt nothing. Confused, Yoshika headed for the ground. The ground was barren, and there was a disturbing feeling welling up inside her. There was something wrong, something very wrong with this and Yoshika knew it. She sent her striker flying higher and higher, trying to escape the feeling. It never left. Suddenly she looked at the sky. It was collapsing. Soon enough it would reach her, and god knows what would happen. The sky collapsed all around her sending Yoshika into a free fall towards the barren landscape.

Yoshika woke up and heard voices. "Miyafuji? Hey wake up; we need to go to dinner."

Another voice sounded in the darkness, "How long had she been here, I would have said hi if she waved or something."

A third voice sounded out in the distance. "Trude, Mio! I'm going to dinner!"

Mio said, "Barkhorn, go to dinner. I'll stay here until she wakes up."

Gertrud walked off.

Mio looked down and said, "Miyafuji, wake up."

Yoshika opened her eyes. "Oh hi Mio." She sat up. "How long had you been waiting?"

Mio sat down on the grass. It was much like a repeat of last night. "We had just released all of the trainees. I think most of them are combat ready according to regulations, though I want to train them some more before I can really say they really are combat ready." She sighed. "Its tiring keeping up with all of this." Mio looked at Yoshika who was looking at the moon's light revealing the dew on the grass. "Is there something on your mind?"

A few minutes passed by. She stared at the ground intently as if she was trying to find a detail in the ground Mio couldn't see. A small sigh came out from Yoshika. Mio asked again, "Yoshika? Are you there?"

Yoshika sat up straight immediately and said, "No there's nothing wrong. I'm just tired from the jobs Eisen gives me." Mio looked at her for a while. Yoshika didn't know how to react, and sat down quietly for a few minutes before standing up again, "I'm going to dinner, and then I'm headed straight for bed." She walked off quickly and left Mio alone with her thoughts. Mio looked on as Yoshika slowly walked away from the hill.

_I saw those eyes. They aren't the same anymore._

Mio stared out into the darkness at Yoshika's fading figure. "Yoshika, what is going on in that head of yours?"

* * *

Yoshika came into the hangar for the day and was surprised to see Guardian and Kazuo testing out a part.

Guardian said, "Well Yoshika, say hello to R.E.C.O.N. Engine XMA24. We built it this morning."

The engine did not look like an engine at all. Its major design point was that it was a ring shape, and instead of one big engine powering the striker, its multiple little engines all going off at the same time. The striker itself was built for the master's of magic control. No trainee without specific training would be able to lift off in that thing.

Kazuo then said enthusiastically, "The research team also came in early to drop off the finished models."

Yoshika looked over at the cart. "When did _they _get in?" she said.

Guardian looked at his watch. "I'd say about 2 hours ago. We already fitted the engines on them. We just need a test."

"We can do it tomorrow. We have to create that report. Oh by the way Yoshika, seeing as you created that little beauty with your ingenious wing design, you can give it its name." Guardian patted her head. It felt fatherly, which she appreciated.

Yoshika thought for a moment. "The wings are a lot like Angel's wings when they sprout out. Let's call it that."

Guardian wrote it down. "Hmm. Angel. Not bad, I think Command will like that call sign. Now come, we must hurry and create those reports."

They walked upstairs and started writing the reports. As they wrote them the radio in Guardian's office sounded out.

"This is Delta 6, repeat Delta 6, Requesting permission to speak with FOB commander." A man's voice sounded on the radio. It sounded urgent.

"Delta 6, this is Bishop, what is your request soldier?" Lynne's voice sounded back on the radio.

"This is Delta Team, Army Black Ops squad communicating a RED class code intel to FOB commander."

Guardian picked up the line. "Delta 6, FOB Commander is off-base ATM, I am interim commander until he returns. What is your request Delta 6?"

"This is Delta 6, in Quadrant K-3, sector G reporting heavy Neuroi activity sir. We have followed it from K-5, and it seems they are not stopping."

"What do you mean by that Delta?"

"Sir, a large amount of Neuroi are being sent to your base. I request that you scramble all units in general area."

"Delta, please note the number of the Neuroi so our radio technicians can write it down. "

Another man's voice picked up the line. "This is Delta Leader, we have counted them. It's about 5 Large, 7 Small, 2 Extra-Larges and 1 Capital."

"Delta. Repeat what you have said."

"12 Large Types and 2 Capitals sir." An explosion could be heard in the distance.

"Thank you. Can we get a size on the large types?"

"Umm… Theres about… OH F-"

The radio transmission ended. Guardian sat down and quietly said, "Get the research teams out here now. I want Procedure 7 enacted immediately."

Kazuo nodded and ran out the door. Guardian turned back to the radio. "Bishop, do you read?"

Lynne responded back in a calm voice. "Bishop reads you commander."

"I want an all base alert. CODE BLACK. All non essential non combatants are to be evacuated immediately. Alert Gallia and Britannia's Military immediately. I want you to use Authorization code 06A71G. They will know what to do. Then call Allied Command and give them a status report. Tell them Hard Rain will be deployed."

"Yes sir."

An alarm blasted throughout the base. Time seemed to stand still. After 7 months of peace it took a while for Yoshika to adjust to the new reality. The war was coming and its sights are aimed at the base.

* * *

**AN: My god, College applications really take a lot out of you. I wrote literally half this story while half dazed from all the work involved in applying for college. Its quite impressive that I somehow pushed that barrier of 5000 words. Also, I had been quite reluctant to write this story as I had no good ideas for this chapter in general. As one can probably see from my other chapters, I'm trying to give a realistic feel, so I needed to ground many of the events in reality. Nitpicky fans might get an aneurysm over what I wrote, so that ought to be fun. **

**I also did read the 'What If' tweets Fumikane wrote, and I can confidently say that I can make at least one of them come true in the story. **

**So onto this chapter, its a bit heavy, heavier than my other chapters which are more dialogue based, but I liked the way the chapter read out. Also, the Vitruvian Man is a drawing made by Da Vinci. Its quite important for artists and scientsts to know about. Search it on google. By the way just to make it clear, Kazuo and Ichiro are the same person. The narration changes make it seem like even the narrator doesn't want to give Yoshika a clue, which I thought was pretty cool. Speaking of which, this really was super focused on Yoshika. The focus will decrease slightly during the next chapter, which I think will be quite a spectacle to see, as I might just add a few surprises along the way.**

**Anyway, enough blathering from me. I'll be back before the end of the year. Hopefully.**

**-Poke  
**


	10. Tension

The alarms blared throughout the base, and it rang in everyone's ears. Groups of people were being put into Halftracks and being shipped away. A jeep came into the grounds.

A soldier opened the door and saluted.

"How are you doing young man?" Eisen asked.

"Sir, Guardian requests that you go into the crisis room right away, sir!" he said back.

Eisen nodded and walked off quickly. He looked at the crowd of people waiting to leave, all of them knowing about what was coming.

A group of soldiers ran by shouting "Move it men, Line Alpha is another 5 kilometers from here!" They ran off quickly, many of them carrying heavy loads of ammunition and machine guns.

The crisis room was a hidden room under the dining room. It was built for an emergency such as this, but it was never used before. The staircase leading to it was extremely weak and looked like it could fall apart in a minute. He walked down the steps and peered inside. A soldier escorting him shined a light at a door in front of him. As he walked up to the door, he dismissed his soldiers and put in the codes. The door opened to chaos.

Radios were buzzing, and the technicians were having trouble keeping up.

"The reports are true, there is a heavy neuroi force attacking!"

"What do you mean the strikers are unavailable? They've been grounded for two weeks!"

"Well then you can tell General Montgomery to shove it from wherever he gets his words from!"

"Delta 6, Delta 6, Respond."

"No Prime Minister, we do not know what their intentions are."

"I need to confirm the arrival of the evacuees at the Gallian Border!"

Eisen finished listening to the frantic technicians and entered into a side room. All the people inside stood up and saluted. Agent Guardian stayed standing and announced the situation.

"General, there is a major Neuroi attack that is imminent. Please tell us the course of action."

Eisen thought for a moment. "Is Colonel Wilcke, Lt. Col Sakamoto, Major Barkhorn, and 1st Lt. Hartmann here?"

Minna said, "All of us present sir."

Eisen nodded and asked, "What is our strength in witches?"

Minna replied, "There is about 20 official witches on base sir."

Guardian sighed. "That's not nearly enough to fight them off!"

Everyone went silent. It was true. For that many Neuroi, there would need to be a division of witches to fight them off.

Eisen spoke slowly, as if he didn't believe what he was saying. "What… What if we send up recruits...?"

Minna slammed her fist on the table. "They aren't ready for this! We need to give them the skills to survive, not be cannon fodder for this!"

Gertrud nodded and said, "I agree with the Colonel on this. We can't risk sending up new recruits to fill ranks."

Guardian shook his head. "Look, I know these recruits are only kids, but if we don't send someone up there, it won't matter if they survive or not."

The room was silent. A tense air had filled the room, and the sounds in the base electrified the air around it.

Mio coughed, and started to speak. "Fine, we will send people up there. However, we are only going to send people we know will survive. This is not negotiable."

Eisen agreed with the plan and started to move on to the next logical subject: Strategy. "The Neuroi are attacking in an organized fashion, which is troubling and dangerous at the same time. We cannot rush in without a plan. General Montgomery has supplied a team to support us, but they are on loan, and we cannot rely on them. I've sent out three lines of contact at certain distances from the base. These lines are Line Alpha, Line Beta, and Line Charlie. I hate to say it, but those lines will be decimated. It's a sad waste of human life. I can't say it enough; we need to get them before they hit the base."

Guardian interrupted Eisen and said, "Sir, isn't it more costly to lose one striker rather than one soldier?"

Eisen snapped back, "Agent, do you realize that it does not matter about cost. Think about their families damn it! How many families will be affected if the Neuroi get through? Ten? A hundred? A thousand families?"

Minna tried to interrupt, "But sir-"

"Enough interruptions!" Eisen said angrily. His tone had become harsh, and the cool and relaxed demeanor was gone. "Wilcke, Sakamoto get me a list of the Assault Mages ready for battle. That's the same to you Barkhorn and Hartmann. I will not have unnecessary deaths under my watch! Now get going, we're at war now!"

The girls ran out of the room. Guardian sat there and said quietly at Eisen, "Was that necessary?"

Eisen sat down and rubbed his head. He glanced at Guardian's masked face. "Where is Ichiro?"

"Don't dodge the subject."

Eisen sighed and shook his head. "You should know this already, but war was never meant for children. It was always meant for adults."

Guardian nodded in agreement. He got up and opened the door. "I know how you feel; I lost my daughter to one."

Eisen was surprised by his admission. He tried to stop Guardian but he left quicker than he could say a word.

* * *

Schmidt was sitting in the dining room eating lunch. He and his friends were resting from a long day of war games between the few boys that had graduated the boot camp and the numerous girls who were much better than them at flying. At graduation the boys were given a speech by Lehrer.

"Wow. 20 Boys. Im surprised this many passed honestly. When I came to train people, no one was ready. You guys were sneaky, brash, and plain idiots. And to be honest… You guys still are. However, its not really important. The most important thing is that you guys were the most disciplined out of the rest. That's why we let you graduate. Now… That's the end of my speech. Go forth, and take back our skies!" The boys at graduation were given different ranks based on their abilities. Half were given Sergeant, and half were given corporal. Some people were given corporal because they work best as wingmen. Some just needed a little bit more discipline.

"Goddamn it Frost, how come I have to be your wingman?" When Schmidt got his Sergeant rank, he was joined by Frost and Takashi. Bates and Adagio were given corporal rank. They were wingmen for Frost and Takashi.

"Bates, I didn't ask for it either. Now shut up and eat your food." Frost drank from his glass of water.

Schmidt picked at his food. "So wait, who's my wingman?"

Bates pointed at a small mousy guy. "I think its that guy. Whats his name again?"

Takashi replied, " That's DuMont. Gallian."

"Seriously? I thought that he was another Karsland soldier…"

Schmidt took offense to that one. "Wait a moment, what the hell do you mean by that Bates?"

Bates rolled his eyes, "Most of them graduated. The ones who didn't were too young to do much in combat anyway. Out of all of us here, the Karsland soldiers have the highest ranks."

Schmidt's eyes narrowed. "And your point?"

"Don't you see Schmidt, Lehrer has favoritism!"

Frost intervened before Schmidt was about to verbally maul Bates. "Bates, shut the hell up. Haven't you realized that they did better than most of us in every exercise?"

Bates went back to eating his food. Frost sighed and finished off his water. "We better get going to our next flight lesson."

As they got up to leave alarms started ringing around the base.

"Code Black, Code Black. All units code black." The PA system repeated those words over and over. Ground soldiers ran out to their action stations. The recruits we're confused as to what to do.

Schmidt shouted amidst the chaos, "What the hell is going on? Neuroi attack?"

Frost shouted back, "Probably, but where the hell is the Colonel Wilcke and Lt. Colonel Sakamoto?"

They ran out of the dining room quickly and looked around. Jeeps were quickly driving out of the base towards Karsland territory. Many soldiers were herding people into halftracks that were driving towards Gallian Territory. The base was in full evacuation. A jeep screeched to a stop in front of the boys. Minna and Mio were in the jeep.

"Sgt. Frost, Sgt. Schmidt, Sgt. Takashi get in. Cpl. Bates and Cpl. Adagio, we need you to go to the Hangars. Doesn't matter where, just go."

Schmidt, Frost, and Takashi jumped in and they drove off. Mio started talking to Minna. "What's going on Minna, it's not like the Neuroi to attack like this…"

Minna nodded. "I wish I knew myself… Sending a force that size was deliberate. 2 Neuroi can destroy a whole city. They must be trying to send a statement."

Schmidt asked, "What's going on Colonel Wilcke?"

Quickly Minna replied, "Neuroi attack. Over 10 Neuroi ships headed straight here. We don't have enough troops to effectively take them on, so we need to draw on reserves."

Frost interjected, "So us?"

She nodded. Mio turned around. "Well then… Welcome to the war, soldiers."

* * *

Yoshika had been busy moving all of the recon parts to the lower floors. It was surprising how well built the whole base was. There were 5 or 6 lower floors in the R&D hangar, each one dedicated to a project that they had previously endeavored on. The Recon items were placed in level N5: The High Priority Floor.

Guardian approached Yoshika, "The base is in chaos. A Neuroi attack like this is unprecedented, and I'm afraid we won't get enough help before they act. If we need to…"

Yoshika turned around to the finished strikers. "You mean use the R.E.C.O.N. strikers?" She didn't mind them being used in the situation, but there was a faint worry that it would cause problems like the last few prototypes. "I don't mind, but we need to set them up now."

Guardian nodded and reached for a phone. "Get me a halftrack. We're shipping Class 1 Strikers." He returned the phone and nodded to Yoshika. "Head over to Hangar 4. I'll send the Strikers there."

"Why Hangar 4?" Yoshika asked.

"It's the 501st Home Hangar. Only the best squads are situated there."

"Ah. I'll head there immediately."

"See that you do."

Before the elevator left the floor Yoshika saw Guardian pulling out something covered by a blanket.

* * *

Schmidt, Takashi, Frost, Minna, and Mio arrived at a control tower. A number of other recruits, both boys and girls, were there too. Minna walked out and talked a little to Gertrud.

"So it begins... Are you ready Gertrud? Ready to take it all back?" Gertrud nodded.

She replied, "It's time to free Chis' and my home. This is just the first step."

Mio quipped in, "It won't matter if we don't get these recruits going!"

Schmidt chuckled at this exchange. He knew Major Barkhorn had a sister; he was a cadet in the academy before she left. He looked around, observing the recruits gathered here. All of them were recent graduates. They were all whispering about the impending attack on the base, and what they we're being sent up to do.

"We're obviously going to be sent up! Why else would they do that?" one said harshly.

"Don't be so rash DuBuois! Maybe they want us to be on standby in case the Neuroi come here!" another said.

"We have the 501st on our side though, this will be nothing!"

"I heard that there were 20 Neuroi headed straight for us!"

The crowd went quiet. Frost blanched at the prospect of facing 20 when 2 could destroy a whole city.

"… Who said this?" Schmidt asked quietly, hoping that it was just a mere rumor.

The boy quietly said, "Colonel Wilcke."

Schmidt hardened at the answer. He didn't reply.

The boys started whispering amongst themselves.

Frost quietly said to Schmidt, "Hey you better say something; they might imagine themselves into a frenzy."

Schmidt looked at the boys slowly descending into madness. "Okay hold on, if we can't beat 20 Neuroi, I think we don't deserve to be here. They can find more people to replace us. So if you aren't ready to face them, there's a gate right there, you can leave, and we'll just replace you."

Shouts of protest caused uproar around the boys. It was so loud that the girls had heard them from a distance.

"What the hell is with that attitude Schmidt? You aren't the boss of us!" a boy shouted.

"Shut the hell up Mark! You can leave if you don't like it!" Another shouted to defend Schmidt.

"I'm not a coward, but I'm not stupid!" Mark shouted back.

Schmidt wasn't about to take this. There were more people getting involved and he knew what would happen if Morale dropped.

"Mark, it takes more of a man to admit he isn't ready than to go in like a fool to prove himself. If you really don't believe that you are ready, then say so. I only want to defend this base, and I'm ready to pay my life. If you won't even do that, how can we ever expect to win?"

Frost gasped, he was surprised at the speech Schmidt just said. "My god, what in the hell was that?"

Schmidt shrugged. "Beats me."

Takashi pointed at the girls walking over. It would be the first time the boys would meet the girls without some kind of striker strapped to their legs. "Looks like they heard the commotion."

One of the girls walked up to Schmidt. "Alice Hall, Flight Lieutenant of the Royal Britannian Air Force."

She was a petite girl, yet her eyes conveyed more than what could be seen on the outside. Her eyes commanded respect from any one she was talking to, and Schmidt took that into account. Interestingly both her eyes were red, but it seemed to be a natural feature rather than a magical or artificial one. Her hair was a dark brown; tied into a short ponytail. In short, an average girl.

Schmidt answered her introduction with his own: "Everyone calls me Schmidt. Sergeant, Karsland Army Cadets."

Alice nodded. He knew that she was trying to hold back something, but he didn't know what. Frost however took it into his own hands.

"What the hell are you doing here Alice?" he said coldly.

She turned and spat back, "Don't give me that attitude, _Windsor_."

Schmidt felt the coldness between the two. For some reason though, he felt a faint, yet warm connection between the two.

_Childhood Friends? No it couldn't be…_

Before Schmidt could defuse the situation Frost shouted, "When the hell did I say you could use my first name?"

Alice smirked. "You know. At the oak tree back in Academy?"

Frost blushed and lunged at her. "You bi-"

"ENOUGH!" Takashi stood between them while Schmidt tried to calm Frost down. "We have a Neuroi invasion headed straight for us and you two are fighting about some idiotic childhood memories? I don't care what you do later, go make out or something, but focus."

Everyone giggled at the two blushing Britannians. Schmidt pushed Frost back and began talking to Alice.

"What do you want with us Alice?"

Alice flicked her hair over. "As it looks like we're going to be fighting with each other, I think it's time we at least know who our comrades are."

Schmidt took her consideration very seriously. "Look Alice, you know Colonel Wilcke doesn't want the boys and girls to intermingle."

"Your point?" She was unrelenting. Turning to Frost she said, "Hey, make him agree with me." Takashi covered his mouth while his red face showed his embarrassment and anger.

A small mischievous streak started up in Schmidt. He had kept it down in fear of getting punished. "Okay… We'll let you talk. But you and Frost have to do something."

Takashi facepalmed and let go of Frost. Frost ran up to Schmidt to punch him, but…

* * *

Yoshika hitched a ride to Hangar 4 with a ground crew picking up some stuff. She didn't know what was inside, and assumed it was weapons and ammunition for the striker units. The base was full of tension, and many were on edge. She tried not to talk to many people because she didn't want to be on the receiving end of anything. As she approached Hangar 4 she saw the control tower in the distance, and saw a group of people next to it.

_Wonder what that is all about…_

The hangar that approached was much bigger than the R&D hangar she had been going to for the last week and a half. She walked in and marveled at the amount of strikers that were stockpiled here. There were Liberion Mustangs and Stallions, Britannian Tornados and Firebolts, Karsland Gf 900s and FD 180s, and Fuso A7Ms and Fours. Curiously there were no Gallian strikers within the hangar. Behind her was a weapons stockpile room, one for every striker she had seen. There were rifles, machine guns, and rockets all placed in a special order that she couldn't understand. As she moved along mechanics started dragging out the launchers. One man noticed her marveling at the size of the hangar.

"Captain Miyafuji, over here!"

The man had grease stains all over his uniform which showed a rank of a Staff Sergeant. He had a broad chest and arms which confirmed her suspicions he was a mechanic, but she still didn't know what kind. As she walked towards him many of the men looked like Guardian with brown complexions and slightly pale faces. They spoke in a language unknown to her, but she kept walking.

"Good Day Captain Miyafuji. Guardian phoned ahead, if you were wondering. Anyway, I need to let you know about your responsibility here. As we will be launching Class 1's only you and I are allowed to touch them. Right now, we need to send up our reserve squads and get them to the front lines. Do you know how to prepare strikers?" He talked with a gentle, yet authoritative tone. She shook her head to him and he walked over to a striker. "Watch closely. The other guys are busy trying to get the strikers that will be used, so we will be the only ones getting ready to launch. And another thing-" He looked up at the catwalks above him. 3 men gave thumbs up. He turned back to Yoshika. "Hold on please."

He walked over to a closed office and pressed a hidden button. A loud grinding sound rang out from the sides and a massive door opened. A loud voice boomed throughout the hangar and possibly the base.

"Hangar 4 Active, Hangar 4 Active"

Lights that she had not noticed on the runways started to light up. The 12 lanes lit up through the runway. She noticed the man come back.

"I forgot to tell you my name, Captain. My name is Haji Ironsi, Staff Sergeant of the Allied Army." Yoshika was annoyed he did say his nationality. However she had to forget about that because he quickly went into how to prepare the striker. Haji walked towards the strikers on the launchers and opened a panel on the unit. "This is the calibration unit. Usually pilots do not touch it because it is too out of the way during flight, but sometimes its necessary. The calibration unit prevents magic overcharge. Depending on the situation, the control tower will give us special instructions like today. Here take a look."

A piece of paper was given to Yoshika. It was full of numbers that indicated Magic limits, densities, propeller speeds, and more. "Wait, why would we need to change them?"

Haji replied without even looking from the panel. "Strikers aren't built to be adaptive. Normal technology would break if we didn't do this. Magic Technology would be able to support the fluctuations, but normal technology would break quickly if we left them to the discretion of a distracted pilot."

Yoshika searched her brain for the notes that included this. There was nothing mentioned there. "When was this added?"

Haji scratched his head. "Im guessing a few years after your father showed his research to the military. Tests showed that normal tech would break, but he quickly found a way to limit a users power through limiting the amount let through at a time."

He finished his calibrations and closed the panel. "Okay next you turn on the launcher and give the striker some energy. Magic may start instantaneously, but its easier for pilots if we gave them a hot start." He flipped a switch on the launcher and the striker glowed yellow. "Finally you inspect the propeller turbine and make sure that there isn't any damage on it. Its pretty durable, but the biggest problem is that the wires get frayed after a long battle. Here look at this." He brought out a bottom part of a striker and showed the red wires sparking intermittently. "Obviously that's bad, but it's good that the wires connect in an easy to see place or we would take forever inspecting these. Now, there might be internal problems, but because of post flight inspections, there shouldn't be a problem that we should be able to catch." He connected the piece back to the striker.

"Wait isn't that dangerous?" She wondered why he would remove a part of the striker when it was connected to an energy source.

He shook his head. "These were built to give stability to the striker unit. Before, it was just a place someone could stash something, but then we realized that it would be more efficient to house something that we'd need to maintain more often anyway. They pull off if you push down and twist. Though, you can't remove it if there's magic. I dunno what would happen, but don't do it." Haji returned the part to the striker.

"So, do you understand Captain? By the way, the faster we do this, the quicker we can fight back."

Yoshika nodded and moved on to the next striker. She entered all the numbers in order and started the launcher. The striker glowed with energy as she looked for the part Haji mentioned. Once she found it, Yoshika looked at the innards. It was small yet important. The striker could still function without it, but it would never be as good. There were no problems so she returned it to its original place.

Haji looked up and saw her finishing up at her station. "Good. Another 200 to go."

* * *

Schmidt was about to block Frost's punch, but as he readied himself an alarm sounded throughout the base.

"Hangar 4 Active, Hangar 4 Active"

The doors opened at a hangar not too far away from the group.

Mio got out of the jeep and said, "Well its about time. I was about to just do it myself."

She walked up to the group. "Attention!" The group quickly went into neat and organized rows.

"Alright soldiers, we are in a crisis situation. We are below capacity on regular strikers and we need to send up recruits as well as veterans to fight back. Your squads will be waiting in the hangars. Because of the size of the enemy forces we need to use all 6 hangars on this base. Launches will be coordinated by Colonel Wilcke and I at this tower. Any questions?"

No one answered.

"Good, we need all the time we can get. Also, we are using communicators using your magical energy. As long as you are actively using magic you can hear everything we are saying. My final word of advice, don't be a hero. Now heres the list." Mio read off the list of squads and their hangar designations. "Remember this designation; this will be your home hangar from now on."

Schmidt and Takashi had been assigned Hangar 4. He considered himself lucky for not having to run as far as the other guys. Frost had been assigned Hangar 1 and grabbed a ride on a halftrack with the others.

"Lets go." Schmidt motioned to Takashi and started to run to the hangar. As they ran into the hangar, Schmidt found someone he wasn't expecting.

"Captain Miyafuji?" He said surprised.

"Sergeant Schmidt. I'm busy, so please move. Your squad is waiting in the back. Sergeant Takashi, your squad is also at the back." She walked off. Schmidt hadn't seen her since he met her walking around.

"Comon, we don't have time to daydream!" Takashi walked quickly to the back of the hangar. Schmidt noticed an open door, and walked towards it. He found 16 guys sitting inside.

"Well, if it isn't our dear Sergeant Schmidt. Come have a seat will ya?" A boy drawled as Schmidt walked in.

A small mousy boy walked up to Schmidt and said, " Corporal DuMont. I'm your wingman and 2nd in command." DuMont had a quiet voice, yet there was no sign of hardness at the coming situation. It put Schmidt on edge. Whenever a situation arose, he usually turned more serious than before. DuMont seemed to counteract that.

"Nice to meet you DuMont. Now who is that idiot talking?" he said as he scanned the room.

"That's Gregory, recruit from Britannia." He pointed at a boy with blond bangs that covered his eyes.

"Nice to meet you. I'm from the northern part of Britannia, you know, where there's cows and not Neuroi trying to kill you every damn week." The boy lay back in his bed. "Much better than the Barracks."

"And cleaner" another chimed.

_This is my squad?_

Takashi walked in. "Where the hell did you go Schmidt we have to-…" He noticed the boys sitting on the beds. "Whoever is in my Squad, out. Now."

Schmidt felt a chill go through his spine as 7 of the boys filed out of the room silently.

"Man that guy was scary…" Gregory mused.

Schmidt laughed. "He's usually quiet. Maybe the incoming war has gotten him spooked. Anyway we will be sent up sooner or later, so might as well get to know each other now because we don't have time up in the air."

The boy on his right started talking first. He looked pretty average, but his eyes were also as red as Alice's. "Justin Hall. Schmidt, you may have met my darling twin sister. Never shuts up about how Frost is an idiot sometimes." He rolled his eyes. "Before you assume anything, they are childhood friends who messed around too much during their days together at the Academy. Lovely rumors sprang up and Frost turned into an insufferable jerkass, and Alice turned into an insufferable BITCH. Great Pair huh?"

The boys roared with laughter at his rant about those two. Schmidt smiled and shook his head. "Good thing he isn't an insufferable jerkass to me. Next?"

The next boy had short white hair, and was smaller than the rest. Schmidt assumed he was around 8 to 10 years old. "Neil Anderson. Liberon air force cadet."

After him came Gregory. "You should already know me…"

"I still want an introduction." Schmidt said plainly.

"Fine." Gregory sat up in bed. "Thomas Gregory. Britannian Royal Air Force Pilot. Youngest in a generation." He smiled proudly at this accomplishment.

The boy to his right had dark brown hair and Fuso features. Schmidt was surprised that he had a Liberion Accent. "James Kaido. Liberion Home Guard cadet."

Gregory blurted out, "Wait, whats with the Liberion accent?"

Kaido sighed, as if he hadn't heard that before. "Born in Liberion after my parents moved there."

Schmidt moved on before someone else interrupted.

"Olaf Korsky. Orussian." A deep voice said. Schmidt turned to look at him. He was large, rivaling Bates for size, but his face looked pretty friendly. "Most of the Orussians here are from refugee families, I got lucky, I was drafted by the army and got my family shelter before the fall."

Schmidt nodded. Before Orussia fell, thousands of refugees came through Karsland escaping the Neuroi invasions. Orussia fell a few weeks after the commotion started.

"By the way, my cousin is in the 501st. I think her name is Sanya. I don't really remember. If you find her, tell her that her father is safe and she shouldn't worry anymore."

Schmidt didn't know who Sanya was. He never saw her with the others of the 501st and assumed that there were only 9 members of the 501st. There must be a few more that I don't see often.

"As everyone knows I'm Corporal DuMont. One of the few Gallians here, I'm proud that I got put into a good squadron." DuMont went back into the background.

Schmidt then finally introduced himself. "Sergeant Schmidt of the Karsland Army Cadets. I'm your squadron leader, and this will be your new home barracks. As such, except for DuMont and I, you have not earned a rank because you are deemed unready. Prove it today, and I will make sure you get your true rank."

The boys cheered at that statement. "Im tired of doing crap for Lehrer! I want to fly!"

Gregory laughed. "How in gods name are we getting in there with our pants on? Last time I checked, Strikers needed full skin contact."

Schmidt groaned. He didn't want to have to show his underwear to the girls again. "Yes, it's a bit embarrassing to take off your pants in front of the girls…"

Yoshika came into the room. "Oh, I heard that as you passed by. Hello, my name is Captain Miyafuji. I'm your mechanic for today. Assault Strikers are slightly modified to allow boys to wear their uniforms while in combat. I can't reveal how, but you aren't allowed to wear socks as an FYI. Well I have to go back to work. Oh Schmidt, your squadron call sign is Red Wolf." She walked off quickly.

Hall sat up. "Who the hell was that?"

Schmidt replied, "Captain Yoshika Miyafuji, if you weren't listening."

"I know that, but I didn't know she looked like that!"

Korsky threw a pebble at him. "Stay calm tiger, shes 501st and therefore untouchable."

A silence permeated the room. Schmidt started talking. "Uhh…. Let's get out of here, we need to get ready."

The soldiers stood up and filed out of the room.

* * *

Yoshika walked towards the runway and saw Haji doing final checks. "Captain Miyafuji! Go to the panel and tell me if all the bars are stable!"

She walked into the room with the panel and looked at bars. They were labeled "Load". There were no fluctuations.

"All Stable, Haji!"

"Good!" He ran up to a man standing by and started talking to him. Yoshika walked up to find out what was going on.

"Get the first squad. They should be ready." He turned to Yoshika. "Captain, if you would like to, you may continue helping me out, it would be a big help. However, Eisen would also like you to use your medical experience to go on standby at the hospital."

Yoshika nodded. "It would be easier for me to stay and help launch strikers."

Haji went back to work. "Very well. Go in the room and monitor the load meters. I'll come in to help you out soon."

Yoshika went back to the room with the meters. They stayed stable while she waited. Soon enough a squad appeared in view. A message came out on loudspeaker, and echoed throughout the base.

"276th Karsland JFW preparing for launch"

Haji came in. He sat next to Yoshika and started talking on the radios. "Control, this is Hangar 4. Sheilds on slings, ready to clear."

He motioned for her to put on the headphones.

She put them on and listened to the conversation.

"Hangar 4, Clear when allowed." The tower replied.

"Holding."

"Set Launch." He pointed at a button and then at the strikers.

Yoshika nodded and said, "Sheild Squad Leader, Prepare for launch."

A voice returned back, "Sheild is up. Engines on. Launch when ready." The roar of the strikers started up.

Haji called the tower. "Tower, Sheild is ready."

"Tower acknowledges."

Yoshika waited a few minutes. She noticed that strikers were being launched from other hangars.

"Hangar 4, Clear, Clear, Clear!"

"Roger."

Yoshika then told the squad leader, "Shield cleared to launch, all units launching." She pressed the button and released the strikers from their launch holders. They left with such a speed that they were in the air halfway through the runway.

"Tower, Shield has launched." Haji took off the headset and went outside again.

Yoshika kept the headphones on and heard Minna's voice. "All units, Operation Critical Shield has begun."

* * *

**AN: So here starts the action of this story. Longest Prologue ever? Anyway, I really liked writing this chapter, and I hope I fleshed out the characters a bit more than in the last chapter, and I got to add a new OC. Don't worry he won't be a major character, but he will be important when the time comes. Also, I've unfortunately been neglecting half of the 501st, mainly because they don't fit into the story just as well as the girls I've included so far. As such the next chapters might go more into the 501st rather than the Yoshika/Schmidt sides of the story. And, as a bonus, this is the first chapter in a while I had to research on planes :D. **

**Next chapter: Strike Witches R&R Ch 11: Hold the line. As a service to you, I will tell you that this chapter will be very heartbreaking. That is all.**

**Review and Recommend, yadda yadda yadda. See you guys again.**


	11. Black Sky

Mio and Minna looked out of the Control Tower. They had all 6 Hangars in sight, and each were launching the first wave of strikers.

"Mio, which squads were cleared to launch?"

Mio looked at a clipboard. "KNS-276 Shield, LNS-130 Lightning, LNS-206 Nightshade, RNS-130/131 Both Meteor Major and Minor, KNS-110 Razor, BRA-150 Apple, BRA- 335 Lightbringer, FDS-4 Emperor, FDS-2 Sundancers, and ORS-246 Viking squadrons are launching. That's all of our regular defense squadrons."

Minna rubbed her forehead. "Launch RS-2 Dogknights and RAM-3 Farsight. They will be supported by RAM-4 Red Wolves."

"Got it."

The tower was buzzing with activity. The massive amount of launches had to be coordinated as the runways all converged at one point, and the risk of crashing into one another was high if there wasn't an organized launched schedule.

Mio went to the radio.

"Crew Chief Ironse, this is Control. RAM-3 and RAM-4 are scheduled to launch."

Haji replied back quickly. "RAM-3 is ready to launch."

Mio nodded to the controller and returned standing next to Minna who had a map of the area open.

"From what I can see, there are large amounts of Neuroi here." She circled the point she was talking about. "Line Alpha is here," she pointed a few inches south of the first position. "So would we send wave one right up to about a few kilometers behind the line?"

Mio shook her head. "The line is going to be battered by the time the strikers get there. Also, it's a large force; we won't be able to make much room for them to push before we need to send up additional forces."

Minna nodded and moved her finger an inch higher on the map. "How about here?"

Mio nodded again. "No, too far."

"So right up on the line?"

"Yes. The ground soldiers will fight harder if they know that striker teams are positioned above them." Mio turned to the radio and turned a few knobs. "Wave One Squad Leaders, this is Control. You are to position yourselves on Line Alpha. Fire at will when reaching position and change communicator frequency to 1100. Out."

A squawk came over the the radio. "This is Crew Chief Ironse, RAM-4 is ready to launch."

Mio turned the knobs back to the first position and replied, "Clear to launch."

* * *

Schmidt was set up in his launcher when Yoshika came up. "Captain Miyafuji what are you doing?"

"Final Checks." She opened the panel and pushed a few buttons.

"Huh, how quaint for a former hero." He was worried he insulted her but she didn't seem to mind.

"You do what you can." She walked off into the building.

A voice entered his ear. "Red Wolf this is Control. Respond."

Schmidt checked his communicator and responded, "Control this is Red Wolf, we're ready to launch over."

"Red Wolf you will be supporting DogKnights and Fareye squadrons. Take out as many Neuroi as possible. Prepare for launch and switch to freq. 1100 over."

The crew chief started signaling to start their engines. The engines started with a roar and the crew chief ran out of the way as the launchers released the bracers and pushed the strikers down the runway. Schmidt wasn't used to the new speeds. They gained air quickly and flew quickly into the sky.

The base they were leaving was actually very small, Schmidt wondered why the runs around were so tough.

"Hey Korsky, feeling sick yet?" One of the guys said on their radio.

"Not yet, I'm just hoping I don't have to twirl around in circles."

"Quiet, we're just about to pass Charlie line. We're reaching AO, all squad members switch frequency to 1100." Schmidt switched frequencies to 1100 like he said. "Red Wolf squad, V formation now!" The boys positioned themselves behind him at an angle.

"You think the first wave got Neuroi yet?" Anderson asked.

"I doubt it, we've just past Bravo Line though." DuMont said quickly.

As they approached Alpha line 2 squadrons came up on the side.

"Schmidt, fall back a little and let Dogknight take the lead." A voice said over the radio.

"Got it." He let off the throttle and saw Dogknight squadron spread out in front. Schmidt saw Alice's red hair off in the distance.

"Alice, are you in charge of Dogknights?" Schmidt asked.

"Yup. Got the position yesterday."

"Heads up, Alpha line 2 clicks to your nose." Takashi sounded monotone as he said that, but weirdly it was calming to Schmidt.

"Red Wolf, get ready to engage."

"Roger." everyone said.

The smoke of the line came up in puffs. It hadn't been attacked heavily yet, but it was coming. Dots of strikers flew around in circles far ahead of the line but it was obvious that they were getting bigger. The 3 squads held back and waited behind the line. The tension grew as the dots were given form, and the recruits realized that the defense squadrons were being pushed back.

"Defense Squadrons focus on one at a time! We don't have enough people to spread out!", a harsh voice shouted.

More voices started to overlap on the communicators.

"Apple 6, check your 3 o' clock!"

"Emperor 2 cover me, I'm going in!"

"Make sure the Neuroi don't attack the ground, protect them all!"

Alice positioned her squad in an attack formation. She held up her hand to hold back her squadron. Schmidt motioned for his group to lower their speeds and let Takashi's squadron filter through their holes. When Takashi's group was in position the group from the air looked like a wedge; Alice's group in front, Takashi's in the middle and Schmidt's in the back.

"Hold on, they haven't attacked Alpha line yet. We aren't allowed to attack until Alpha line is attacked or bypassed."

DuMont and Gregory flew up to Schmidt and started talking to him. "Hey Sergeant, what's the plan? All I got was that we're covering Fareye."

DuMont nodded and said, "I don't think Fareye will be focused. It's more likely Dogknights will take the brunt of the attack while Fareye snipes the hell out the Neuroi. I'd rather protect Dogknights.

Schmidt shook his head. "No. Fareye is more exposed than Dogknights; I want half of the squad to filter in with Dogknights with me and attack the Neuroi. The other half will stay with DuMont and cover Fareye. Got it?"

The boys shook their heads and flew back to their positions.

A voice came on the communicator. "Strikers, this is Captain Ridgewell of the 42nd Allied Infrantry regiment, Platoon F. The men down here said they'll be counting on you angels."

Anderson joked through the communicator, "Look at that, we're angels. Now where's my halo?"

The Neuroi had gotten closer to Alpha line. Stray shots from the ships few towards them and set off some of the Dogknight's shields.

Gregory whistled. "Man, those things are huge…"

Schmidt heard Alice's voice. "GO GO GO! All Dogknights, Fire at will, take out the Neuroi!"

Schmidt shouted, "Kaido, Anderson, and Hall follow me. The rest of you cover Fareye!"

They flew into the action, dodging shots along the way. The ground troops erupted with fire from all sides and Schmidt was forced to navigate through the flak fire.

Kaido started shooting at a Neuroi left of Schmidt. "Check your side Sergeant!" Schmidt rotated around and started firing his rifle into the black armor of the ship leaving a few holes but still hiding the core.

Anderson and Hall flew higher and dived with speed to strafe the Neuroi. "Damn it! This Neuroi is going to blast us to shreds if we do that again!" Hall shouted.

"Red Wolves fan out! Fareye 3 has a bead on the core!" someone shouted quickly. The boys sped off away from the Neuroi as a blue beam shot out and pierced the Neuroi and went right through it disintegrating the ship on sight.

"Whew, thanks for that Fareye!" Hall shouted.

"No, thank you!"

"Enough chatting, get moving, we still have more to take out!" Schmidt shouted as he flew towards his next target.

The next few minutes were a blur. Schmidt and his group flew into a large cloud of smoke and they lost each other. When Schmidt finally regained his senses he saw Kaido and Hall fighting a Neuroi alone. They had circled the ship and ripped holes into it. Hall was strafing while Kaido was distracting its fire with moves that most boys couldn't replicate. Hall finally saw the core and did an amazing midair flip that had him shooting upside down at a high speed. The core was destroyed instantly and the other two moved on.

Schmidt looked ahead of him and saw Anderson facing a Neuroi all alone. He almost moved to help him but saw that he had disappeared. Anderson reappeared high over the Neuroi and shot a torrent of bullets down into it. As Schmidt flew to his position to help him, Anderson flew off into the hole created by his bullets and started shooting within the large type.

A defense squadron member remarked, "What the hell, that recruit went inside the Neuroi!"

Soon enough, the core was exposed and the Neuroi was quickly destroyed. Schmidt looked at the small boy in amazement as he fell back with the others to Schmidt's position. The boys looked tired and needed a small break.

"Alright, switch out the cover squads! I want DuMont's in front right now! My squad fall back to Fareye!" While he wanted to take out some more Neuroi, it was more important to keep his squad energized. As they switched out the units, Neuroi fire came in from all sides. The lasers sliced the air all around them, it was impossible to dodge them all and Schmidt's striker was hit. Hall and DuMont returned fire at the Neuroi while Schmidt caught his breath.

"Shit! My striker was hit!" Schmidt shouted in pain.

"Sergeant we can't keep this up! We're under heavy fire!" Hall shouted.

"Sergeant make a move!" DuMont hoarsely shouted.

_Goddamn it! We're trapped!_

"Dogknights! Assume defensive formations around Red Wolf and escort them out!" a voice shouted from above them.

Suddenly, blue shields appeared all around the besieged squadron. This was his chance

Schmidt shouted, "Red Wolf fall back! Let Fareye take care of the Neuroi!" The squadron fell back. While flying back he noticed Hall was hit by a Neuroi shot and was bleeding from the shoulder. Korsky and Anderson took most of their damage to the strikers. Everyone else miraculously was unhurt. Schmidt cursed himself under his breath for not realizing the ambush.

"Control here. Red Wolf what's your status, there was a massive ambush at your position. Over."

"3 casualties, non-life threatening. All still eager to fight. Over."

A pause. There wasn't much chatter over the radios, which was startling. Schmidt looked around. There were only a few strikers around.

"Takashi, where the hell are the defense squadrons?"

"You didn't notice?" Takashi said with a confused voice.

"Notice what?" Schmidt was confused.

"The defense squadrons were forced to retreat. Alpha line got demolished." Takashi said this in the sternest way possible. He then pointed to the Alpha line, or what was left of it. It was a smoking line of burnt ashes. Schmidt looked even closer and could see outlines of bodies sprawled on the ground everywhere.

"Don't keep looking Sarge." Anderson patted his back and motioned him to go back to his squad. "They fought their hardest, and I bet they will be hoping we do too."

DuMont nodded, "It's not your fault. We could only do what was needed. Let's retreat and get a better position."

Schmidt nodded in agreement. He was stunned by the devastation. He had seen it before in newspaper articles, but he had never imagined it to be this horrible. Everyone down there seemed to have been rooting for him. As they fell back Schmidt became nauseous at the amount of destruction they passed over. As they slowly retreated back radio messages were relayed to him.

"Sergeant Schmidt, this is Shield squadron leader. Tell your squad good job out there, saved our asses a few times. We've been ordered to retreat for now, but reinforcements are headed for your position."

"Sergeant, give thanks from Apple squadron. We wouldn't have made it out without them."

"Red Wolf this is Control, good job out there. Hold the line and don't let any Neuroi pass. Over."

Schmidt heard more words of thanks from the other squadrons. He didn't say anything but he looked over at his squad. Before he wondered why he had been handed this team, they seemed like loners who were more suited to doing things on their own. He couldn't be any prouder of his squad at this point. Now it was his turn prove himself.

He shouted out his orders. "Red Wolf, get back in V formation and stay on guard. We aren't done yet!"

* * *

Yoshika had been launching strikers all day. However a messenger for Eisen had called her into his office with Crew Chief Ironse and Agent Guardian. The two men seemed to be familiar with each other, but also quite distant.

Eisen looked up from his papers and stared at the 3 people. Yoshika stared back for a few minutes as she studied his face. There were multiple wrinkles around his forehead and his eyes seemed much more tired than before. However there was a deep determination behind those eyes and she unconsciously smiled.

"What are you smiling about Miyafuji?" Eisen asked curiously.

She quickly detached her feelings. "N-Nothing sir." she said meekly.

Eisen looked back down at his papers and began talking. "Alpha Line was destroyed. We lost a good amount of men, and the rest have retreated to the Bravo line. However, it seems as if we...

A messenger ran into the room out of breath. "S-Sir, this came in from Communications!"

He took the page and read it. His eyes widened as he advanced further down. "Thank you. Could you please summon Col. Wilcke and Lt. Col. Sakamoto immediately?"

The messenger said, "Yes Sir!" and ran out of the room.

He gave the piece of paper to Guardian. "Do you think we have to use them?"

Guardian sighed and replied, "It looks like we must. But wait for Wilcke and Sakamoto."

Haji and Yoshika were confused. Haji said, "Why are we here General?"

Eisen got up and said, "The reason I called you here was because you are going to be launching R.E.C.O.N. Strikers. All squadrons placed in Hangar 4 are now under R.E.C.O.N. Authority."

Yoshika was surprised. "W-What? Why Hangar 4?"

Guardian turned to her. "Don't you get it? The squadrons that were situated in Hangar 4 are all potential R.E.C.O.N. soldiers. Also, it's been approved by High Command to have the 501st be the flagship R.E.C.O.N. squadron."

"Therefore, any squadron within the same hangar of the 501st would have to be the best to support the 501st. We needed to keep fresh blood to prevent any losses due to age, so we had the best observed recruits moved into squadrons. However, the squad leaders are a special kind." Eisen brought out a file. Yoshika read the files name: Alice Hall. "As you can see here, this lady is one of the best quick thinkers out there. That incident a month or two ago when she caused damage to the Administration Building? No average recruit would have been able to fly out of that." He paused. "We haven't seen skill like that since…" The men looked at Yoshika. She blushed under the stare of these men, but the focus was quickly taken off her when the door opened.

"What was the pressing matter General?" Mio asked as she walked in. Minna followed in after.

Eisen gave her the piece of paper and told her quickly, "We don't have much time. Tell your squadron to launch immediately in R.E.C.O.N. strikers. Then after-"

Minna stopped Eisen before he could go any further. "Hey, whats the reason for launching the 501st so quickly? I thought this was a last resort!"

Guardian said quickly, "Col. Wilcke, read the paper."

Minna read the page out loud. " Scouting Report 6: Operation Critical Shield. At 1524 Britannian scouting team Gray Eye were 40 clicks east of the base when Rifleman Pvt. Moorehouse saw multiple bogeys at their East. As the team dug in they counted 2 Large types and an unknown number of medium. This scouting was confirmed at 1558 by Liberion scouting team Bloodhounds and added in a number of land Neuroi as well." Minna handed the paper back to the general.

"There are no more fresh squads waiting on the base except yours. We're lucky we caught the ambush early." Eisen said. He put the paper back on the desk. He looked up as they heard jeeps outside the door.

Guardian opened the door. "Everyone, I've summoned a convoy of jeeps from the R&D hangar. Our teams are going to help prepare the R.E.C.O.N. Strikers. Col. Wilcke and Lt. Col. Sakamoto I brought another jeep to bring you to the control tower."

Haji and Yoshika saluted the general and walked out. 2 jeeps were waiting for them at the road near Eisen's office. The ride was quiet, and no one made a sound. Alarms started ringing throughout the base as the Neuroi grew ever closer. Guardian mused, "When did the Neuroi grow so adept at military tactics? This is quite an operation they have going."

Yoshika stayed quiet the whole ride thinking about the next hours to come. Soon enough her friends would be flying on a striker she had built herself. It gave her a feeling of joy and fear as she imagined them flying around defending their home base.

_Would they work? Will they fail like the last prototypes?_

Mio and Minna broke off of their 2 jeep convoy to go to the tower. Strikers were landing and taking off constantly, a few of them injured heavily as they landed. The squads that Yoshika personally oversaw the launch of had not returned yet. They were the front line soldiers in this battle, but the other front line squadrons had already returned. As they reached the hangar, Haji was dismayed at the fact that a crew from R&D had replaced the original crew of overseeing the launches of R.E.C.O.N. strikers. It seemed to Yoshika that he wasn't mad about the change in crews, but the fact that the R&D crew disregarded him.

"Captain Miyafuji," one of the crew workers called, "We need your help setting up the strikers!"

Yoshika was about to leave the jeep until Haji stopped her. "Don't. I'll take care of this. Go to your squadron and talk to them. It might be your last."

She nodded. Haji turned to the driver and said, "Bring Captain Miyafuji and Agent Guardian to the personnel building at the back. The 501st will be there soon."

The driver drove her around to the back of the hangar. She thanked the driver. Guardian and her got off the jeep and went inside.

"Captain Miyafuji, I'll be in the other room if you need me. When the girls get here, I'll let you have some alone time with them. It's been a very long time since you have all been together."

She opened her mouth to say something but realized that no one but Mio should have known she hadn't seen the 501st.

_How did Guardian find out? Did Mio tell him? _

He left the room as she sat down. Guardian's admission startled her from her quiet thoughts. Up to this point Yoshika hadn't realized that she had been avoiding her friends for a long time now. The room was quiet, like it was detached from the war that was soon to envelope this base and her within it, but in this room there was just silence. She laid her head on the table to sleep, not for a long while, but just enough to make her troubles go away she felt. And so she slept.

* * *

This dream had placed Yoshika on the ground this time. She was sitting on the grass and watching the contrails in the sky left by the strikers in the sky. She didn't feel particularly unwell, but actually at ease. She sat up after a short while and looked around her surroundings. It was a grassy hill overlooking a big lake and just past the lake was a small town. It was quiet, just her and the wind blowing. She walked down the hill and walked towards the town. The breeze and the sun felt good on her skin. As she walked the strikers all started flying towards the town where she had been walking to. Yoshika wondered what was going on and ran towards the town.

She reached the town a few minutes later and found no one outside. She walked through the empty streets looking for people but none showed up. The ease she felt earlier was gone and was changed into a cold tension that kept her from stopping. It was as if something was following her, something sinister and dark. She felt its power coming closer. Yoshika started running through the deserted town which started becoming darker. She ran for a while, looking for a way out. As she ran a voice was calling out to her.

_Yoshika, Yoshika…_

The voices started to call out faster and she began to run faster. The backgrounds were a blur to her, all she was focused on was running away from the horror behind her. She didn't dare turn around because otherwise she would be caught.

_Face the truth… Face the truth… You are not what you are…_

She had run out of the town and headed for a small area. There she saw the striker units being stacked up by people. Yoshika ran to them hoping that they could help her. As she ran closer to the group, Yoshika noticed that they weren't reacting to the aura following her. In fact, none of them noticed that she was being chased.

"Hey!" she called, "I need some help!"

The group of people turned around. Yoshika stopped suddenly.

_Face the truth…_

The group of people wasn't people at all. They were identical images of her. As they approached her, she backed off knowing that she was trapped between this aura behind her and the images. The image started talking to her in broken sentences.

_Your destiny… is not this… your destiny… will change the world…_

"W-what? But I am already powerless!" she shouted. The aura had closed in. It was surrounding her and the images. She didn't see anything yet but she thought she would soon.

_This is a state... embrace your true power… to protect the world… guardian of the skies…_

"My true power? What? They're all gone!"

_It is not so… It is there... deep within… the power to fufill your destiny… Face the truth…_

The images started flickering. As she watched the dark aura surrounding them had become corporeal into a form of Yoshika and approached her. Yoshika didn't know what to do as it started to reach its hand out towards her. The hand was a light blue color but tinged with purple surrounding it.

All of a sudden, Yoshika wanted to touch the hand. It was a force that was driving her, to grab that aura and absorb it within, but her mind fought to resist the motion, to keep her from taking it in. She reached with her arms and as the power touched her, something was pulling her out of this vision.

_Face the truth… Fufill your destiny… _

* * *

"Yoshika wake up!" Lynne said.

Yoshika quickly sat up at the table she had put her head down on, and looked up. She saw Lynne, Perrine, Lucchini, Shirley, Gertrud, Erica, Sanya, and Elia all standing around her at the table. It had been the first time in a few weeks they had seen each other. They weren't wearing just their clothes however; there was helmets and body armor protecting them.

"How long was I asleep?" Yoshika asked.

Lynne replied, "Only about 5 minutes. We just came in."

"Oh…" Yoshika looked down, not knowing what she would say to them. However Gertrud broke the ice.

"Miyafuji… I can't believe you created a striker… Is that why you haven't seen us in weeks?" Gertrud didn't look angry, but actually quite happy about it. "Is there anything special we should know?"

Yoshika brightened up. Her friends weren't angry with her for leaving them for weeks on end. She quickly explained the most unique part of the R.E.C.O.N. striker. "The biggest thing is that you need to control your magic perfectly. The wings are built to react to magic energy and how fast it flows through. High magic use equals high speed and power and the wings will contract to form a more aerodynamic striker. Conversely, low magic will turn the wings into gliders and are built for cruising speed or landing."

Lucchini grabbed Yoshika's chest when Yoshika finished. "Tch, too small still", she said as Yoshika squeaked out loud.

"Hey Lucchini, shouldn't you be listening?" Shirley said annoyed.

"High magic means more aerodynamic while low magic means more gliding. It's not too hard to understand!"

Yoshika giggled but stopped herself quickly. "However," she said quietly, "these are prototypes so we can't tell how they will work in combat. Be careful, and don't too anything too strenuous. It's not worth getting killed over."

Perrine sighed, "Miyafuji, I don't want to take caution when the Neuroi are right outside my country's door! We are still rebuilding the country, and another attack would devastate it!"

Yoshika nodded her head. "I understand, but don't get killed. I don't want my friends to die."

All the girls laughed and nodded to Yoshika as Guardian lead them into the other room. Inside were multiple maps of the base and the basic schematics of the R.E.C.O.N. Striker.

"As you heard from Captain Miyafuji," Guardian said, "the R.E.C.O.N. Striker is a unique striker that focuses on a user's ability to control magic. As such we only are going to let our most talented control this striker. For this mission a direct assault on the base has been detected, there is no confirmation on numbers but there are multiple enemies. Only fight when necessary, it is only a prototype. For my part I have unleashed the Allied Superweapon codenamed: Hard Rain into the battle. This weapon is a single heavy artillery cannon using an artificial Neuroi core that our scientists have been able to reproduce. Your mission is to protect this base from Damage at all costs."

The girls nodded and saluted Guardian. "Yes sir!"

"Good. Now get ready to be launched!" Yoshika and Guardian lead the girls to the entrance of the hangar where Haji and the R&D crew had finished readying the strikers for launch.

"Captain Miyafuji you made it! Good, Good." Haji said triumphantly. The R&D crew looked defeated. He whispered in Yoshika's ears. "Those guys can't handle me and my expertise!" Guardian on the other hand, looked displeased.

As the girls got used to their new strikers, Guardian went into the backroom and radioed control. "Control, this is Hangar 4. R.E.C.O.N. ready for launch."

"This is Control; all hangars except for 4 are to suspend operations. Repeat, all hangars are to suspend operations for R.E.C.O.N launch."

"Hangar 4 is standing by. R.E.C.O.N. Strikers are in ignition phase."

The R.E.C.O.N. strikers' engines started with a roar. Yoshika monitored every one of her friends to make sure the strikers weren't sapping too much of their energy. Most of the girls were impressed by how much speed was being outputted by the engines.

"Yoshika!" Lynne shouted over the engines. "These were built really well!"

"Thanks!" she shouted back.

Guardian ran out and shouted for Yoshika to get back and get ready for launch. She put on the headphones and radioed command. "All R.E.C.O.N. strikers are online. 501st JFW is ready to launch."

"Control acknowledges. Clear to launch."

"Strikers clear to launch!"

The latches from the launchers released their holds on the strikers and the strikers launched down the runway at an extremely high speed. Yoshika noticed that they were not taking off after reaching halfway down the runway. "Control, is 501st JFW having problems taking off?"

"Hold on Hangar 4 let me-" The line cut out.

There was an explosion outside.

"What? You broke up on me Control."

Yoshika looked up and saw people running for the front of the hangar to see the commotion. She put down the headphones and ran outside. As she looked around she saw black smoke originating from the control tower. She looked even further and noticed that half the tower was destroyed. As they looked more explosions rained the base, a few more explosions came even closer. Haji and Guardian ran to the front and pointed to the sky. Yoshika saw the Neuroi stated in the scouting report.

Guardian started running back inside. "Miyafuji! You have first aid training! Go over to the tower and see what's going on! Ironse, get all other hangars and ground them as a direct order from Agent Guardian! We are under Code Black. All units are to get to battle stations!"

The Neuroi have come.

* * *

**AN: ****Wow, there was so much school work I wasn't ready for! I had this chapter done for 2 MONTHS but I never had time to do edits. I can't say much about this chapter. I had to push some surprises to the next chapter which might take a little while to get out. I've been in alot of stuff, and I also have been getting ready for college. So anyway, I'll try to get a quicker chapter out to fix this little cliffhanger. **


	12. Capital

The ride over to the destroyed tower was quiet. Compared to before, jeeps were passing by constantly, many of them full of soldiers going to the front line. Many of them wouldn't return, yet Yoshika hoped that maybe they would all return safe. She shook her head as the jeep came to a stop at an aid station set up by a few Medivac squadrons. As Yoshika walked by she was appalled by the amount of black bags that had piled up. The tower was especially full today, and the operation had been going at full speed until now. Strikers flew over intermittently, and many of the soldiers there assumed that they were recruits being sent up and muttered curses at the people flying low. However, she knew that was the legendary 501st JFW, her own squadron flying out there, but she didn't say a word. She didn't need to.

"Captain Miyafuji! We need some first aid here!" a soldier called.

She was surprised that he knew her name. As she walked over she saw a small woman, possibly in her late teenage years, lying on the ground. She was covering her side with her hand and she looked pale.

"What is your name?" Yoshika asked.

"Davenport, Ma'am." She coughed.

"Alright hold still," Yoshika lifted her hand and saw a piece of shrapnel sticking out of her sides. "We're going to get you an ambulance. Hold on."

The soldier assisting the girl ran over to a group of men with a stretcher. They walked over and looked at the girl.

"I don't think she'll make it, young lady." The man said. He was smoking a cigar and looked way older than the rest of the soldiers.

"What are you talking about," Yoshika asked politely, concealing her simmering anger at his boorishness, "She's perfectly stable right now!"

"Theres a piece of metal sticking out of her, Miss. We need to save people who have a chance." He said this as if she was stupid. The other men snickered as they walked away.

"HEY! SOLDIER, WHAT IS YOUR NAME AND RANK?" Yoshika was angry. She wasn't even angry in the sense of annoyed, this was anger from deep within her, something not many have seen before. Many of the soldiers stopped to look at the commotion.

"How dare you speak to an elder like that you? I'll have you know I bet I outrank you stupid little girls! I don't even know why the hell I'm stuck in this piece of shit army squad in this piss poor base." The man said this with a glare and spit at her. Many of the soldiers started jeering at the man as he walked away.

Yoshika wiped the spit off and walked towards the man with fire in her eyes. She pulled him around with such strength that the man almost fell over. "You didn't answer my question soldier. But you know what, I'll tell you who I am."

The man pushed her off and tried to walk away. However 2 soldiers didn't let him go. "Move it! I don't have to deal with this! I'm a freaking Staff Sergeant! When the hell was I ever supposed to take orders from little girls?"

This time he wasn't getting away from Yoshika. With a deft maneuver she pulled his collar and moved her leg into his knees as he fell backward to keep him from regaining his balance. He fell hard onto the ground. "You want to know when?" she asked darkly.

"Yeah bitch!" This man was clearly angry. The 2 soldiers earlier tried to approach, but Yoshika put up her hand to stop them.

"Fine. I am Captain Yoshika Miyafuji, part of the 501st JFW, Head Researcher at R&D division, and a certified Clinical Physician by the Fuso Empire Medical Agency. I was sent here by Agent Guardian to help out. I wasn't sent here to deal with idiots like you."

A silence permeated the station. As Yoshika got up, the man tried to trip her by grabbing onto her shoe. She responded by slamming his hand on the ground. "I guess you needed a 2nd lesson." The 2 soldiers dragged the man away amidst the cheers and clapping.

The remaining soldiers went back to the girl Yoshika was attending earlier. However, she had slipped into unconsciousness during that whole debacle. The men quickly turned to Yoshika and apologized profusely for wasting time that could have been better spent helping her. She nodded and accepted their apology. The argument drained all of her emotions. She had attended to about 5 more people who all got prompt attention from the stretcher soldiers. As she monitored the station, it was clear that Mio or Minna were still missing. However before she could ask anyone, an explosion rang across the base and Neuroi airships came into view.

* * *

The recruit teams were falling back to Beta line while watching out for any more ambushes. Schmidt's striker was emitting small amounts of smoke as pain ran through his leg. "Red Wolf! Get into a circular formation and stay alert!" The strikers behind him maneuvered into the formation. The other two squadrons were ahead of Schmidt but not by much. Many of the recruits were low on ammunition and couldn't get a radio response from the tower.

"Schmidt," Alice said, "I can't raise Control. My squad is low on ammo, and Fareye is already resorting to magical shots."

Takashi said quietly on the radio, "We're low on everything; I don't think we can survive an ambush without reinforcements." He sounded tired, but it was probably the stress of battle tiring him out. Many of the recruits looked tired out and extremely fragile.

Schmidt finally said, "I think we have some ammo, but I doubt we can hold much off. We took some damage last time."

"Right…"

They flew for a few more minutes before DuMont started shouting on the radio.

"GET DOWN! AMBUSH!"

The strikers dove to lower altitude as lasers flew at them in every direction.

Hall shouted, "Again? These guys never quit!"

Gregory said on the radio, "I'm out! Switching to magical bullets!"

Schmidt put out fire on the Neuroi that were showing up but then looked further on the horizon.

"Crap…" He said slowly.

Alice asked, "What is it?"

Schmidt didn't answer. He started falling back.

"Sergeant! Where are you going?" DuMont shouted.

"DuMont, get everyone out. NOW." Schmidt said quickly.

"Red Wolf Fall Back, Fall Back!"

"Damn it Schmidt," Alice shouted as she turned around, "What the hell is it?"

Before Schmidt could say anything Takashi said, "Capital."

The radios were silent.

"All units fall back. We are not to engage the capital at all costs." She said slowly.

As she said this, Neuroi ships flew in behind her and blocked her way.

"We're surrounded! We can't get out!"

Schmidt shouted, "Shoot our way through! We can't stay here!"

The recruits started to shoot the Neuroi ships but they could not find their cores. After a few minutes it became obvious that there was no choice but to fight.

Alice turned around, red hair flapping in the wind and shouted, "Dogknights! Engage all Neuroi forces!"

Hall shouted back, "Are you crazy sis? That's a freaking capital!"

Gregory tried to calm Hall down, "We're stuck here. We can't just sit here and get killed!"

Korsky agreed. "I'm not dying on my first mission! Lets go get them!"

As Schmidt's squad flew in to support Alice and Dogknight Squadron, DuMont flew towards Schmidt and said, "You coming?"

Schmidt smiled as he flew in.

The Neuroi forces had numbers but the recruits were slowly fighting the Neuroi off. Alice's squad had taken out a few large types just as Gregory singlehandedly took out a medium type. As the battle raged on, it was peculiar that the Neuroi were not firing as much as before.

"Alice, there's something weird." Schmidt said.

"What is it?" she replied.

"The Neuroi aren't firing as much."

Alice flew higher to get a bird's eye view. "You're right. Should we just keep fighting?"

Schmidt shot an exposed Neuroi core and said, "No choice but to."

The Recruit squadrons had finally taken out most of the Neuroi Ambush, but as they were about to retreat a new wave came upon them. However something was different about this wave.

"Schmidt, we need to retreat, there is no way we can fight this off! We're too exhausted!" DuMont said.

Schmidt tried to respond but couldn't. He was pinned to that spot. A slow creeping feeling enveloped his mind and turned it cloudy. DuMont was shouting at him but Schmidt couldn't move. Alice looked for him and flew down to see what was going on.

"Schmidt! Are you there? Hey!" Alice tried to get him to move but he stood there still. She slapped him a few times to try and wake him up to no avail. He still felt the pain though, and shouted in his mind how much that hurt.

_What the hell is going on? I have no control over my body! I can't think straight…_

He started getting dizzy as he tried to will himself to move. DuMont had given up on him and started leading the squad.

"Korsky, Hall, Gregory fall back! Kaido, Anderson, and I will cover you! Get out of there!"

Alice, however, kept on trying to wake him up. "Schmidt! This isn't like you! Are you seriously that spineless to be frozen in the middle of battle?" She tried getting him mad making him get out of his cathartic state.

_I can't move you idiot! It's not my doing! Wait…_

Takashi flew down towards Schmidt and Alice. "I'm getting contact with outside squads. We need to fall back and let them deal with the capital. Did you hear me Schmidt?"

_I need to focus… Something is trying to pull the strings… I probably know who it is but…_

Takashi stared at him for a moment. His eyes widened when he saw Schmidt's eyes move. "Alice, turn around!"

Alice turned around and looked at Schmidt. She saw his eyes drift towards the capital. She exclaimed, "The capital is doing this to you? Why?"

Takashi said, "It doesn't matter, he's a sitting duck out here! Go distract the capital while I get everyone to focus the cores."

Alice sped off towards the capital. Over the radio Takashi started calling for an artillery barrage.

"Thunderhead, this is Fareye, come in Thunderhead"

A gruff voice came over the radio. "Fareye, where the devil are you?"

"We're in grid 256, X coordinates 56.324, Y coordinates 23.935."

"We're locked in. Why the hell are you so far back?"

"Thunderhead, now is not the time! We're under our 2nd ambush today!" Takashi was starting to grow desperate as the Neuroi capital came closer.

"Alright alright! Command issued us a new experimental artillery weapon called "Hard Rain", get back!"

It was quiet for a moment. The weapon "Hard Rain" had never been used, and recruits did not know what it could do.

As Schmidt stayed in place, he watched as the sky turned red as a booming sound crackled all around them. The land below was covered in a red light as massive shots came out of the sky, impaling Neuroi ships all around the area and exploding into a brilliance of light. Schmidt could see Alice trying to dodge the barrage.

"WATCH IT YOU JERK!" Alice shouted over the radio, "I almost got killed over there by explosions!"

The Neuroi capital stopped moving.

Schmidt started feeling a slow release of ropes. Soon enough he could eke out the words, "The capital… It's suppressing brain waves… and it stops you dead in your tracks… It can only focus one person at a time… but I think it will focus Alice and kill her…"

Takashi aimed his rifle at the capital. "Not if we kill it first. Call in the squad. We kill the capital now."

"Red Wolf, focus on the Capital! Dogknights focus your fire as well!" he said this with a new energy, to which his squad responded quickly.

"Glad to have you back from your mental break!" Gregory shouted as he flew towards the Neuroi capital.

DuMont said, "What the hell happened? Never mind, we need to kill this damn thing first."

Schmidt flew towards Alice to help her out, but she kept on going. Weirdly, the capital hadn't stopped her yet. Schmidt flew behind her like a shadow and all of a sudden a Neuroi firestorm engulfed them. Alice skillfully flew through the shots as Schmidt followed with some difficulty due to his damaged striker. He had to stop her before it was too late. All of a sudden Takashi shouted on the radio, "I saw the core!"

Schmidt stopped. The next few minutes of what happened next would leave a mark on Schmidt's life forever.

Alice shot forward towards the Capital. Schmidt didn't notice her in time and wasted a good half minute looking for her. When he finally found her, she was already more than halfway to the Capital. Schmidt took chase. "Alice! Stop, you're going to get yourself killed! Let the others take it out!"

However, he was already too late.

The Neuroi capital had made its move and suppressed Alice in front of it. Schmidt was still far from her position when a few Neuroi ships got in position and took aim at her. There was no way she could have possibly dodged their shots and Schmidt would have been too far to make a difference. All he could do was watch. The rest of the recruits were firing frantically to eliminate the capital as fast as possible, which Schmidt acknowledged as a valiant effort, but he believed it was in vain. The Neuroi fired their shots. Alice was hit by a multi colored explosion, and then she was gone. Or was she?

"What the… Alice?" Schmidt called out. He didn't believe his eyes. She was still standing there alive, when just a moment ago she had already met her end. Then Schmidt realized that there was a boy clinging onto her for dear life, as if she would slip away if he let go any tighter.

Anderson shouted on the radio, "Schmidt! THE CORE!"

He looked up and saw the capital's large core right in front of him. He pointed his rifle at it and started shooting. It took over 15 shots to destroy, but it exploded in a brilliant fashion. Through the smoke of the explosion, Schmidt flew to Alice and saw a spectacled boy hanging off of her shoulder.

"What the…"

Schmidt couldn't believe it.

"Frost?"

* * *

Yoshika had treated her sixth patient at the remains of the tower and was sent to the hospital to help out the overwhelmed doctors. She had been in there when Lynne was hurt, but it had been a while since she had been in there. The hospital was full of patients; rooms were using floors to lay patients down because there were so many. Many of the patients were soldiers from Alpha Line, but there seemed to be more body bags than actual patients.

One of the attending doctors sighed, "I really wish we had a witch that could heal… It would make my job easier…" He didn't notice Yoshika standing next to him.

"Hey kid, get out of the way!" a man shouted as he brought a stretcher through the doors to the operating room. The doctor turned around.

"Are you Captain Miyafuji? The director said that they were sending you here." He seemed very nice, albeit a little stressed, but who wouldn't be at this time. "Well alright, we need to head into the operating room quickly. This patient is entering shock." He sterilized himself and ran inside. Yoshika followed him in after washing her hands and opened the doors to the operating room. It smelled like acid and there were people everywhere which made the room's temperature skyrocket. The mass of bodies were all surrounding what looked to be a soldier who had taken a heavy wound to the chest.

"Nurse, I need a scalpel!" , the doctor from earlier shouted. The nurse gave him the scalpel while he worked on the wound. "Yoshika, over here. I need your help."

She walked over quickly and went towards his side and saw blood everywhere.

"There's no way he's going to live if we don't stop the bleeding." He started to cut a little deeper. "When I get the shrapnel out of him, I'm going to need you to soak up the blood that comes out, After that, we'll sew him up." As the doctor peeled back the skin, a shiny blood red piece of metal could be seen embedded within his muscle. "Nurse, prongs." The nurse gave him prongs and he slowly started to pull it out. As he had predicted, blood was spurting out everywhere. Yoshika grabbed the bandages and waited for his signal. The piece of metal slowly came out and another nurse brought a pan to put the metal in. "Yoshika, clean up the blood. Nurse, we need to close the wounds."

Yoshika's white shirt soon became stained with blood as she started to soak up the blood now squirting out with each breath the soldier took. She noticed that each breath was causing him to shiver. "Doctor, is he supposed to be shivering?"

The doctor turned around. "How bad is it?"

Yoshika replied, "It's weak for now, but it's slowly getting more intense."

The doctor cursed and ran over. "He's getting worse… Nurse, where's that suture kit?" He took over the makeshift tourniquet that Yoshika had made from the bandages. "Hmmm… Good, but it needs more pressure. "God damn it, Where is that kit?" Yoshika looked at the nurse who was scrambling to find more kits. Another nurse took the man's pulse.

"Sir he's lowering to 70 beats per minute."

Sweat started to pour down on the doctor's brow. Yoshika understood completely what would happen. While the tourniquet was stopping the bleeding, it wouldn't stop it forever, as there was too much blood lost initially. With the shivering growing more intense and the soldier's heart rate dropping, he was getting closer and closer to that critical point where there wouldn't be enough blood to keep him alive, even if he had a transfusion. A nurse tapped his back and said, "I found one more! We're out of suture kits after this one!"

The doctor let out a sigh of relief and opened the kit. "Yoshika, slowly take off the tourniquet. If we want to do this right, we're going to have to stop the bleeding as much as possible. Do you hear me?"

Yoshika nodded. She slowly removed the tourniquet from the cut, and let the doctor suture the wounds closed. She was sweating a lot and so was everyone else in the room, but the soldier's pulse had stayed stable around 70 beats per minute.

The doctor looked at the clipboard and said, "Put him on the next flight to Britannia, there's no way he can stay here."

Yoshika looked confused, "Why not Gallia sir?"

The doctor sighed and said, "They have been having some issues lately, and Command doesn't trust them." He walked away and prevented her from asking anymore questions.

_What? Why would Gallia not be trusted?_

She walked out of the operating room while the nurses prepared the man for air transport. An explosion was heard outside and the hospital shook. Yoshika grabbed a chair for support as gunfire rang out above them. The attack on the base hadn't caused much damage yet, but it was causing more casualties rather than damage. As she walked over to the nurse's station to find new clothes she found Guardian there as well.

"No, we still haven't been able to get in contact… Gallia has shut off all communications with us." The nurse said quietly.

Guardian nodded. "Fine, I'll get the transports ready to get to Britannia. They need to be stable and not critical however, we can't do any medical things on board, we just don't have the room." Before Yoshika could speak to him he left. The nurse noticed Yoshika and called her over.

"Captain Miyafuji, is there something you need? You were just hiding in the corner."

"No it was nothing important, but I would like a change for these clothes…" She pointed at the heavily bloodstained white shirt she was wearing.

"Oh, but all we have are these pink nurse uniforms… Is that alright?" The nurse pointed towards the wall with cubbies with hanging uniforms.

Yoshika nodded and found a uniform her size. "Where can I change into this?"

The nurse opened the door to show a small bathroom. "It's not much, but it's the best we can do for now."

Yoshika closed the door behind her. The room was silent, even though outside was bursting with sound, Yoshika could really only hear the sound of her breathing in the bathroom. She took off the bloodstained shirt and put on the uniform. She giggled a little; it had been a while since she had been able to wear a uniform, especially something as cute as this. She walked out and found the doctor changing in the room too. He didn't notice as she slipped out of the room. There were many things she had seen today, but there was no reason to be peeking at him with everything that was still going on. However when she was about to leave the desk the doctor ran out of the room shirtless.

"Yoshika! I need to tell you something!" He said. Many of the nurses were ogling the doctor's body, but he didn't care. "Look, I'm going to need you to get surgeon scrubs on, I've been relegated to surgical duty, and I need an assistant."

While Yoshika was sad that she couldn't wear the nurse's outfit any longer, a chilling call came into the hospital.

"Hospital, we've got a striker down, striker down. Immediate medical attention is needed. Prepare staff for emergency surgery."

* * *

"Frost, what the hell is wrong with you?" Bates shouted as he flew up. Frost had been hanging on to Alice since they took out the capital. "That was direct disregard for orders- you could have been court-martialed!"

Schmidt stopped Bates before he could say anymore. "Bates enough, we still need to retreat." Schmidt's, Takashi's, and Alice's squads were low on everything and another Neuroi attack would leave them to be easily picked off. "Frost, get off of her!"

Frost shook his head. "I can't."

Hall flew up and shouted, "I know you want to have your fun, but this is serious!"

Then Anderson said, "Hey Schmidt, there's a hole in his back."

Schmidt forced Alice to turn Frost's back towards him. A large gaping hole had appeared in his back. It was not deep, but it looked like it tore through muscle and bone.

"Oh god… DuMont. Get on emergency frequency 1000. We have a striker down. Repeat Striker down." DuMont started communicating through the emergency channels trying to find some help for Frost. A wet patch started forming in his uniform and it started getting deep red..

Frost started talking randomly out of the blue. "God damn it Alice… why do you have to do these stupid things… Now I did something stupid. Never mind that. You need to promise me you'll never attempt that again." His voice was shaking, along with his subdued tone.

Alice started tearing up as she replied, "You idiot… I did it to keep everyone else alive... I'm a Witch, Windsor. I can't promise you that."

Takashi had called Adagio who grabbed Frost along with Bates and started flying back.

As they pulled the two away, Schmidt couldn't help but see a small smile from Frost's face. "Alice, get your squad to escort them." She didn't answer for a while. Schmidt was about to tell his team to escort the two when Alice finally answered, "No. I'll go with them."

Schmidt looked incredulous. "What are you crazy? What happens if the Neuroi-"

Neuroi shots started raining down on the battered recruit teams. All they could do was retreat.

The Neuroi started to encircle them, and they were out of energy to fight back. Alice's squad's shields were starting to fail under the heavy barrage and it would be a matter of time before someone got hit.

Korsky sighed, "So this is it, huh? Never thought it would end like this."

Schmidt noticed everyone resigning their fate to be killed by the Neuroi. "No. It won't end like this. I won't let it happen." Before anyone could say anything he dashed forward and started to use his magical bullets again. This time however a resonating force was flowing within him and added extra power to each of his shots. Soon enough he could charge the shots to explode on impact. He started to gain more room to fight against the ambush, but his luck would run out.

His shots took out too much energy, and he was becoming lethargic. Schmidt could keep pulling shots into eternity but would it matter if they missed? He started to fall back. Neuroi shots started nicking his uniform as he dodged the formidable barrage.

_Is this it? Damn it, I promised that it wouldn't!_

As soon as he said that a new power rose within him a seal appeared on his left hand. The power was drawing into his left hand and forcing it up. All of a sudden a bright flash appeared and a deep power exploded within him as his hand released a massive beam of light that decimated the Neuroi. The rush of energy flew through his body and he cut it off in fear that it would kill him.

_What the hell?_

A voice on the radio came in: "Red Wolf, Fareye, and Dogknight squads' good work out there." Schmidt looked into the distance and saw dozens of strikers flying towards them. "You deserve a long break after that one."

DuMont asked on the radio, "Who are they?"

Gregory chucked and said, "The goddamn Britannian Air Force."

The group of recruits cheered when they saw the strikers above them start chasing the retreating Neuroi fronts.

Schmidt sighed and shouted at his squad to return to base. "Red Wolf, Return back to base, Mission Accomplished."

Gregory quipped, "Just imagine, we have to do even more of these damn battles."

Kaido replied, "Shut up."

Everyone else agreed. Schmidt ignored the banter, he had other things on his mind.

_Frost, you better not die on me…_

* * *

A cold sweat started on Yoshika. The report had quieted down the formerly loud hospital and murmurs started.

The Doctor asked if they knew anything more. The nurse nodded and said that it was straight from the front lines.

Yoshika was worried; a majority of the front line soldiers had returned. However, the recruits had to stay behind to hold the line while reinforcements came in. Only three recruit squads were allowed to go to Alpha Line: Fareye; the long range support squadron, Dogknights; the attack striker squadron, and Red Wolf; a utility squadron that could mould into either role. Yoshika had gotten this info from Haji who helped her launch the squads. They also were chosen for their skills and ability to control their striker, but Yoshika knew differently. Each of these recruits had files that focused on their high amounts of focus and control of their magic. Eisen had chosen these recruits and the other squadrons in there to be the first R.E.C.O.N. striker division.

About 10 minutes later a radio from an ambulance driver had contact with the landing squads. As the earlier report said, the ambulance driver confirmed that it was a recruit from the front lines who had been gravely injured in the front lines. Curiously the recruit was from Skyknight squadron, which was a machine gun assault squad. No recruit squads other than the 3 earlier squads were supposed to even be near the front lines. Sure it was possible that ambushes may have caused recruits to have gotten into combat, but a recruit not in those 3 squads being found so far out was unprecedented.

As the injuries were grave, Yoshika knew that whoever was coming in would require either an experienced surgical and medical staff or someone with healing powers. They had neither. The doctor noticed her quiet frustration at the situation and called out to her. "Captain Miyafuji, don't you worry. I'll make sure they leave here alive." Yoshika nodded and smiled for his effort, but she still noticed the slight uncertainty in his voice.

As she stood outside the operation room waiting for the recruit to come in, a small voice inside her head started to get louder.

_Don't you wish for your powers back? You could save them… Prevent an unnecessary death…._

Yoshika wondered if that was her own mind or something else.

_No… What's done is done… It cannot be changed._

_That is not true… There is a chance you can get it back… _

_I can't._

_But you must._

_Says who?_

_You. You want it back. You won't pull the wool over your eyes and take what you really want._

_No. I'm fine with this._

_You're lying too much Yoshika. How would your father feel if he saw you like this?_

_Why do you involve him? He has nothing to do with this!_

_Maybe. Maybe not. Who knows. It's not my place to say, it's yours. I am not a person you would like Yoshika. However, I am you. You are me. Realize that._

_Then if you are really me, why do you try to hurt me? _

_You may not realize it, but you are refusing a part of yourself. Think about it Yoshika. _

All of a sudden a flash appeared before Yoshika's eyes. She couldn't believe her eyes. Before her was a compete double of herself, yet there was something different. It approached her and assaulted her thoughts yet again.

_LOOK AT YOURSELF! WHY DO YOU TORTURE YOURSELF WITH THIS?_

The world started spinning and the apparition came even closer.

_You are not a normal human Yoshika. You never have been. Once you understand this then you will be free._

_But I AM human! _

_Ah… but not a normal human. _

The apparition came up to her face and stared her coldly in the eyes.

_You and magic are interconnected. Magic defines you. _

_But I am more than just magic! I am a person! I have feelings, emotions, and thoughts!_

_That is true… how else are you hallucinating me right now._

_What?_

_Yoshika, your own soul is fighting you, fighting for what really makes you, you. _

_Why…?_

_You still have things you need to do Yoshika. _

The apparition turned around. Yoshika reached out to it but was stopped at the last second.

_I can't tell you what you need to do. But think about where you are in life now. Is this what makes you happy? Or is there something more. You didn't have to come back to Europe. You chose to come back. _

A flash appeared and the apparition was gone. The voice was gone but Yoshika still felt its effect on her mind. Why was she here? This was the second time that she had visions about regaining her magic abilities.

_Why do these visions have to appear now? Is it because of the Neuroi?_

Yoshika had no more time to think, an injured recruit was coming in and she dreaded the worst. The doors opened and she saw who the patient was. He was tall, and slightly muscular, but she only knew that because his shirt had been ripped open. His main distinguishing feature was his glasses. She remembered his face at the graduation ceremony for the recruits... Windsor Frost.

"Frost… What happened…" she said slowly as the orderlies hurried him to an operation room. The doctor had disappeared for some reason. Frost pulled on her hand with a strength that he should not have and dragged her along too.

"Yoshika… We need to talk."

* * *

**AN: Oh wow, this is something totally different from the canon anime that this fanfic was based off of! Yes, from the very start I was planning to have this story become much more dark than the others. Obviously, here's one of the ways I'm trying it. ****Speaking of which, Im surprised this didn't take me 2 months to release! Oh well. Thanks everyone for supporting the story though, appreciate it. If I don't get the next chapter out in a timely fashion, might be because I'm graduating and I have to do a lot of things still.**

**On to the story! While writing this, I actually planned for ALICE to take the hit. But then again, now that she doesn't take the hit, I actually created a strong supporting female OC. As such, she will be a very important character around mainly Schmidt, as Yoshika is about to enter something totally different. And no, there will be no intentional shipping between those two or a love triangle. Sorry. Next chapter will be very Yoshika heavy but it is also the final chapter of this story arc. Stay Tuned!**


	13. From the Ashes

Frost tried to sit up in the stretcher but Yoshika forced him back onto it. He nodded and wryly said, "Well, this isn't how I would have anticipated this meeting. I thought I would be… less dead." He sighed and said to the doctor and the nurses in the room getting ready to operate, "I want some privacy."

The doctor protested but Frost shook his head sadly and repeated his request. They left the room. Without people inside the operation room looked lonely and strange. Frost moved his head to face Yoshika.

She came closer to Frost who was breathing very quickly. "Yoshika, you must listen to me, there isn't much time. This is a moment that will be with you all your life, and you must know this; do not blame yourself for my death. I chose to die, so please, so I can leave in peace, let your conscience be clear." Frost coughed up a small amount of blood.

Yoshika wiped off the blood with her gloved hand and said, "Frost, you are in no condition to talk right now! Stop this right now!"

Frost grabbed her hand and pulled himself up. She was startled, but didn't show it to him. "I refuse. This is my objective from Ma."

Yoshika raised her eyebrows wondering what he meant by "Ma".

_Is he talking about his mother? What mother would make him do that?!_

Frost started laughing. "I bet you're wondering why I said "Ma"… I meant M.A. but before I explain that, we need to start at the beginning of this story. Why? Because you need to know everything about people who will be your greatest allies here." Frost grunted and covered up his wound, which had grown steadily redder as his story moved on. Yoshika moved to help, but Frost stopped her. "I don't need help."

Before he started Frost took off his glasses. His eyes were a shining light gray which was surprisingly hidden by his glasses. "I don't need these anymore." He put them down and sighed. "A while ago, I was a student at this academy of gifted students. This academy however, was a face for its real purpose: Training young mages to fight in the army. Unfortunately, male mages are extremely rare, and I was the only guy in the school. I hated being singled out, mainly because half the girls jumped on me. I didn't really have any true friends, most people I met were only using me to do something. I never really liked that, so I started pushing people away in High School. After my freshman year of high school there, I met 2 people that were in the sky today: Alice and Justin Hall."

Frost coughed up blood. He wiped it off quickly and kept talking to prevent Yoshika from intervening. "Stop it, this is serious. I don't have much time. As it is, those two have very powerful parents. I didn't find this out until a few months back, but their parents are part of a secret organization called the MA: The Magic Association. The Magic Association is a shadowy organization, but I'm sure that I was enrolled in that school because they found out I had powers somehow. But back to the other two people. Justin and Alice were twins but they weren't identical. Justin was more brute force and emotional, while Alice was more of the cool and calculating type. You may have seen them." Yoshika wracked her memories for the siblings. She remembered them looking alike yet having a feeling they were two distinct people. Frost continued on. "Yes, we met in class and I was sitting in the back with the empty desks minding my own business. The teacher put them there. It seemed like it worked out for the best because Justin and I have been very good friends since we met that day, but Alice... Alice is a different story."

He smiled. Yoshika guessed that it was due to the memories. Frost looked down, apparently blushing as she continued. "We didn't get off on the right foot. She's very independent and stupid, yet… " He sighed looked back at Yoshika, "Shes a unique person, and I know she'll be a use to you in some way. There was this one time-"

"What the hell are you talking about Frost?! We're wasting time!" Yoshika grabbed the bandages and tried to tend to his wounds.

"GODDAMN IT YOSHIKA, LISTEN TO ME! This is your life that hangs in the balance! If I don't tell you what will happen soon, this whole world will fall to the Neuroi do you understand?!" Frost grabbed her wrist to prevent her from using the bandages.

"Then get to the point already!" Frost's reactions throughout this had been annoying and she was stressed out already from the visions earlier.

"Fine. Here's the point. The three of us were inserted into the first wave of recruits. The MA specifically told General Eisen to not add any more than 100 for this round. During school, we were the top students in all categories, leading to our recruitment into the MA as juniors. The MA started sending out docs on people who fought in Britannia and Romagna against Neuroi units, and they wanted us to extract a person. The person who would be extracted would be specified by the Librarian at some point. Alice and Justin may not look like it but they are high level mages who are exceptionally quick on their feet. Justin is a combat mage and he is suited for that role. Alice however is a normal Witch like many of the girls here, but she is very crafty and sees her way though. The MA dossiers said that upon extraction the two would then look for the second person and protect her or him with his life. This is a lot to take in, I know, but there's a big reason I'm telling you this. One of the two people we are supposed to find is you. You begin the end of this war."

Yoshika stepped back a little and slowly said, "But I lost my magic... What makes you think that it will be me?"

Frost replied, "You've already made First Contact with the Neuroi. According to the MA researchers, it means there is a division in the Neuroi somewhere. A weakening. However, we also have our own..." Frost started coughing. "We have... *cough*... traitors... They hide... in plain sight... watching... watching us..." Frost coughed up more blood. His breathing became more labored as he kept going; Yoshika realized he wouldn't stop even if she tried to treat him. "Shit… Yoshika… Urrgghhh… There is another force… others…" The machines connected to him started beeping rapidly. Frost's eyes started closing.

"Frost! We must get you care!" Yoshika shouted. The doctors and nurses burst in.

"It's a one way trip. I wish I could stay… Listen to me… Another force... is working… with… the Neuroi…" His coughing became harsher as the nurses held him down. "You must be careful… The war you know of… it's a lie… "

Yoshika stared at him not knowing whether to believe him or not. "Your way of life hinges…" He stopped. Frost blinked a few times and continued weakly, "It hinges upon your powers… you will be found by the Librarian… She will explain this… FUCK!"

The nurses injected morphine into his heart.

"Let me die peacefully damn it…" He laughed, not a dying man's laugh as Yoshika expected, but a laugh befitting of his age. Even if the mood didn't fit the situation, Yoshika laughed as well. "Yoshika… don't worry about me… You cannot blame yourself… please…" Frost voice trailed off. "Goodbye… and good luck…" He closed his eyes.

"Frost…" She looked at him, not believing her eyes. "FROST! GOD DAMN IT FROST WAKE THE HELL UP!" The machines emitted a high pitch squeal as the ECGs started to lower in intensity.

"Nurses, we're losing him! Beginning chest compressions!" The doctor started pumping on his chest. A nurse stood at his side and waited for him to stop to check the pulse. She shook her head. He did it again. And again. And again. Yoshika stared on as the doctor became more frantic, the machines whining to no end, and the nurses tears sliding from their eyes. She knew something they didn't but she wished for a miracle, anything to take her out of this nightmare. "Nurse! 100cc Morphine!" The doctor shouted again after stopping compressions. The nurse injected the Morphine. The doctor read the ECG and screamed out, "GOD DAMN IT BOY, WAKE UP! WAKE… UP…" He started doing chest compressions again but started becoming desperate as the machines didn't change.

He turned to the Nurse to tell her something but saw Yoshika. She shook her head with tears glistening into her eyes. He nodded. "Nurse. Stop the machines… It's over. Time of death: 1628." The moment after he said that he heard the doors slam behind him. "Poor girl…" He sighed.

* * *

Schmidt and his squad touched down at Hangar 4 where a full medical team was ready to see them. As they had came in over the base the first hand damage of the Neuroi ambush. The biggest thing missing was tower guidance. Multiple buildings were damaged, some even collapsed and the runway was slightly damaged as well. However they came to a smooth stop in the undamaged hangar.

Haji came out and shouted, "Wooo, that was some nice work out there Red Wolf! Command has given you all commendations for today. Schmidt and Hall, you can leave for the hospital immediately, everyone else already landed."

Schmidt nodded and left the hangar in a jeep. Red Wolf Squadron was the last one to land from the original first waves, and the other squadrons were already out of uniform. The air raid sirens were turned off as the remnants of the battle were fought off by reinforcements from allied countries. Airplanes flew overhead defending the base from further attacks. The hospital went unscathed, but Schmidt knew there were a huge amount of casualties inside. He steeled himself as the Jeep stopped to drop him off. Schmidt and Justin walked inside and saw everyone from his original group there, including Alice. Justin walked over to his sister who was sitting quietly, looking a bit disheveled.

A voice chimed out, "Took your sweet time didn't you?"

Takashi smacked him upside the head. "Shut the hell up." Schmidt didn't want to deal with Bates considering all the crap he had been through and was thankful Takashi had been able to pick up on that.

"What? I was just trying to ease the tension!" Schmidt nodded; he knew that Bates was the only one of the group to not know what had actually happened to Frost.

"Whatever," he said, "How is he Takashi?" He looked over at Takashi who pointed at the doctors standing outside the door muttering. "What the hell…" Schmidt started to walk over towards them and roared, "WHY HAVEN'T THEY-", but was pulled back by Alice.

"Schmidt quiet down, it's not their choice!" Alice pointed at the shadows behind the doors. "Frost is taking the opportunity to talk to Yoshika. He doesn't want to be bothered." She put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm worried too, but he knows what he needs to do right now."

"I guess you're right." He smiled at Alice who smiled back in return. "Are you going to thank him for saving you earlier today?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

"Oh nothing…" He blushed a little for saying something so stupid. He looked away quickly and noticed that the doctors were running in and heard faint beeping. "What the…"

Bates said solemnly, "He's in shock."

Schmidt turned around, "How do you know?"

Bates pointed at where the doctors were standing. "Isn't it obvious? Frost sent them out. Guy like him taking a full unshielded Neuroi hit shouldn't be alive right now. Somehow hes still kicking."

Schmidt nodded and they walked back to the rest of the group. Curiously the normally stoic Adagio started talking. "I have a feeling there's going to be a big change soon. When I landed, there was a full medical team ready to transport Frost, but I noticed Eisen talking to Crew Chief Ironse. I didn't get the full conversation, but it seemed like Ironse was pretty angry at Eisen."

Bates looked around quietly and said, "Don't tell anyone, but there's been rumors about a secret special forces being created to get our allies start helping our troops. I noticed a lot of intelligence officers entering the R&D building."

"What the hell, you guys shouldn't be gossiping about this now!" Takashi said harshly.

Schmidt wasn't listening as he was more worried about Frost as the situation didn't seem to be getting better as the shadows showed a frantic effort inside.

Adagio continued, "Takashi, I didn't finish. Eisen was saying something about grounding. I think that the Hangar might be grounded."

Schmidt snapped out of his daze quickly and asked, "Wait what are you saying?! We didn't do anything to cause that!"

Adagio nodded. "I doubt it was due to any one of us. We were up in the air behind enemy lines for far longer than anyone wanted. Eisen has a plan, and hes going to enact it soon."

"So," Schmidt said, "what's our next step then?" He was surprised at how perceptive Adagio was. Takashi was perceptive as well, but Schmidt felt that it was in a different way. Whoever had chose the squads had been paying attention, because Adagio had never indicated anything like this.

Adagio paused. Takashi turned around to look at the door. Bates gasped as he pointed, "Captain Miyafuji?!"

Schmidt turned around as well and saw Yoshika running out of the Operating room. He ran out and caught her before she ran out the door. "Yoshika! What happened?!"

Yoshika didn't say anything. Schmidt kept holding her shoulders so that she wouldn't run away while Alice and Justin came over to ask some questions.

Alice asked, "What happened? Hows Frost? Is he alright?"

Yoshika shook her head. Schmidt said gently, "Look at us Yoshika, and tell us what happened."

Yoshika looked up with tears in her eyes, "He's gone." She wrestled herself free from Schmidt's grip and ran out the door.

Schmidt slumped down next to a wall. "Shit..." He cradled his head in his arms.

_It should have been me saving her... He didn't need to do that..._

He heard some footsteps and looked up. Bates was extending a hand out to him. "Come on man... get up." Schmidt took his hand and pulled himself up. He felt a bit unsteady but Bates grabbed his shoulder and took him out the door. "I wanted to get you out of there man. You were about to have a nervous breakdown. Don't worry about the others, I've known Takashi since the 8th grade, he'll be fine." Bates pointed to the sky. "Look at those girls, the 501st. They lost two of their own but they still fight as if they have never left."

Schmidt looked up and saw the remaining 501st girls flying in the air fighting off the remnants of the Neuroi ambush. "Bates, what are you trying to say?" Bates was usually a jerk and a general idiot, but Schmidt appreciated his efforts to cheer him up.

Bates looked at him and said, "Schmidt, Frost may be gone, but he's going to be with us in our hearts. You need to believe that."

The rest of the group came out of the hospital. Everyone was quiet, but seemed to be over the initial shock about Frost. Bates tried to lighten the mood. "Okay everyone, lets get to the Dining Hall! I'll pay!"

Takashi quietly said, "Not now Bates. I think everyone wants to go back to their rooms right now."

Bates sighed and agreed. "Oh thats fine too, I guess. I needed to do some business anyway."

Schmidt, Takashi, and Justin walked towards Hangar 4. They were calm yet silent, even with the explosions peppering the sky around them. All of them were preoccupied with the death of their friend.

Justin was the first to talk. "It's a bit sudden isn't it? With Frost dying and all..."

Takashi said, "True. But everyone saw what he did. He saved someone at the cost of his own life."

Justin nodded and kept walking. Schmidt wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to start it. However, Justin did that job for him. "Schmidt, before Frost jumped in front of my sister, what was going through your mind?"

Schmidt stopped and the others didn't notice until they were a few feet behind him. Takashi looked at him with a puzzled look while Justin wanted to know Schmidt's answer.

Schmidt's mind raced, scouring his memories for that fateful moment. When he reached it, he fell to his hands and knees on the ground. They ran up to check on him. "Justin... that moment..." he said quietly

Justin replied back, "What about it?"

Schmidt tried to hold in tears as he said, "I... can't save her... I'm too late..."

* * *

Yoshika ran out the doors into the chaotic battleground between the Neuroi and the 501st. She had seen someone die first hand and the effect it had on their loved ones. She thought she could have done more, but she couldn't do anything else. Seeing the faces of Schmidt and his group had shaken Yoshika's fabricated stoicism, and for the first time she had shown true emotion since Romagna.

She ran out onto the road and followed it until she found a building next to a radio tower; the Communication building. It was mostly underground to prevent attacks, but it also was the only place to get an outside phone call to anyone in the world. Yoshika had made her decision, she would be calling Anna to regain her magic. Her personal demons had made her realize that she is not complete without her magic, but it took the death of someone to give her the motivation to regain it. Never again would she let another die so needlessly. This was her sole wish.

She flashed her identification to the secretary who nodded and let her into the crowded Communication building. The door opened to a staircase leading to the first level of the Communications building. She scanned the telephone personnel to see if there was an open terminal. This needed to go out secretly, as Guardian clearly wouldn't give her clearance to leave her position to chase a dream. Yoshika didn't want to be caged in her emotions anymore. She was good at her job and knew intricate details about strikers, but her heart wasn't in it.

She walked over to an open terminal. It was facing away from the entrance, so she was relatively protected. She dialed the operator. "This is Captain Miyafuji, ResDev Beta Clearance."

The operator responded, "What do you need Captain?"

"I need to be connected to an Anna Ferrara in Venezia."

"Hold on." A moment passed while Yoshika heard static. "Alright, connecting you now Captain."

"Thank you." A dial tone rang for a few seconds until someone picked up.

"Hello? Who is this?" a voice called out.

"Anna its me, Yoshika!" Yoshika said in to the phone. She looked around wondering if anyone had noticed her outburst. No one had.

"Ahh Miyafuji... What do I owe this call from you today?"

"Well... I was wondering if I could 'visit' you and get some 'advice' about strikers."

"Hmm... And what kind of 'advice' do you need?" Yoshika breathed a sigh of relief. Anna knew that she didn't really mean that, but Yoshika had been worried about the calls being monitored.

_So this is what Frost meant about another force working against us... I have a feeling I have to tread carefully or I could be caught. _

Yoshika replied to Anna's question. "Well I'm kind of trying to get a new 'design' for a striker and I was wondering if you could tell me you 'fly'." She facepalmed. That was way too obvious, even if she wasn't a spy, a kid would have asked questions about that.

"Ahh, that's fine. But I'll be busy 2 days from now, so I'll ask a friend to take you here. See you then Yoshika."

"Thanks Anna." She replaced the phone and walked out the Communications building without any more issues. She had a few more things to do before Anna had sent her friend to pick her up. First was to tell her friends in the 501st what she was going to do.

Anna put down the phone and turned around. "Well Mio. You got your wish."

Mio nodded, "Did she really want to do it?"

Anna said, "She was spurred on by something. I think someone told her something."

Mio sat down next to Minna who has listening to the conversation. "Meaning?"

Anna grabbed three books and opened them, revealing folders of 3 people. "I believe you have met those three people."

Mio grabbed the folders and read the documents. "Alice Hall, Justin Hall, Windsor Frost... Anna, what the hell is this? Why do you have these recruits information with you?"

Anna put up a hand to stop Mio from asking anymore questions. "There's something you don't know about me. I'm part of the Magic Association. My codename is Librarian."

* * *

**AN: Im in college now! That's why this took so long. I'll try to keep updating but College is a new experience for me and I'm enjoying it! On to the story though.**

**Seriously, this is a wham chapter. I hope it wasn't too wordy, because after writing that whole giant monologue for Frost, I think it might be a bit much. Who knows. I do believe this ends the story arc and begins a new one. I showed a few different sides of characters today, like Frost's sentimentality or Schmidt's major insecurity about saving people. I also really want to go further into Yoshika's return to magic and show a bit of her very hidden ferocious character that I think she's built up over the course of this story. I also want to start getting into R.E.C.O.N. which is a major, if not a main part of this story that will be written for months to come. So yes, sorry for being late, but life happened!  
**


	14. RECON Rises

Mio stared at Anna, wondering whether she should believe her or not. Mio had heard rumors of the Magic Association, but those rumors said they were more of an idealistic organization made to create "control" amongst magic users. She paused before replying back to her, "Why are you codenamed "Librarian"? Why is the Magic Association trying to work behind the scenes?" Mio said this with trepidation; she did not want to anger Anna and the mysterious organization backing her.

Whether Anna was angry she asked this or not, Mio never noticed as Anna answered in the same tone as before, "I am the Librarian because I have access to all of the MA's knowledge. Why would one let another have access to all the knowledge of magic? The answer to this is simple: To prevent magic from being misused. As Librarian, I am also held with the responsibility to not give out knowledge without due process and at the same time do no harm to the Magic Association or to the world. It sounds the same, yet they are two very different things. Let me show you."

Anna walked over to a shelf and brought out a book. "This book is the history of the 2nd Wizard War to us, and is known to humanity's historians as the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. Humanity does not know the truth because the truth in itself is tied within magic. Before the wars, Britannia was under relative peace. However our Librarian disliked King Charles I because he supported the Protestants in Gallia. When the Magic Association got word about Britannia's king mulling over an invasion to help the Protestants, the Librarian went ballistic and sent Cromwell the magical spells to counteract the wards of the King's Wizard Escort. Cromwell took that information and used it to create 3 Civil Wars in Britannia. Cromwell then shut us off from Britannian Magical Researchers and the Magical Association was forced to send its forces to help Charles II reclaim Britannia and regain control over that region."

Minna scratched her head at this new information. "Anna, get to the point."

Anna sighed and said, "Okay... the point of that whole story is that after that Librarian caused the 2nd Wizard War a new policy had been implemented as a safeguard against this. Any Librarian is magically bound from specifically communicating about their knowledge about all magic until the Magic Association approves it."

"Wait Anna..." Mio said, "What about Librarians using their own knowledge against us?"

Anna nodded. "I do not need to bring out a book about this one. You do know of the Crusades in the 1500s, correct?"

The girls both nodded.

"Good. Then this will be short and sweet. We had chosen a Librarian from Romagna. However, we did not expect him to rise to the title of Pope. He... used his knowledge to reclaim Jerusalem for Christianity." Anna sighed. "As a result," Anna showed the two girls the glowing runes around her arms. "Librarians are crippled to the point of nonexistence. We know many things, but we sacrifice the ability to do them efficiently."

Minna quietly said, "The magical law of equilibrium..."

Anna nodded. "Yes... Do you now understand why Yoshika lost her powers?"

Mio remembered back to the time when Yoshika usedthe _Shin Reppuzan_ attack to save the world from the super-hive. Granted, it was a necessary sacrifice, but Mio felt bad at the same time for not being able to do more. After a pause she said, "Yes I do. And I will sacrifice my powers to return hers."

"Good." Anna returned the book back to the shelf. "We have much to prepare, I will need help writing the seal after all..."

* * *

Schmidt woke up early this morning to a cloudy day. He didn't feel like waking up the others so he walked outside and found Eisen standing in front of a few halftracks. He turned to see Schmidt staring at him. "Oh I didn't see you there Sergeant Schmidt. You're up early."

Schmidt was surprised the General was talking to him as an equal. He slowly replied, "I didn't feel like sleeping."

The General turned back to his work and said, "Ahh... Well, thats good. Could you please wake up Sgt. Takashi and Cpl. Adagio? I've already sent couriers for the others. Frost's family is already here. "

Schmidt nodded and turned back towards the hangar. Interestingly for him, Takashi and Adagio were up already. "Why are you guys up so early?"

They closed their doors and said, "Couldn't sleep." Takashi said this quietly, but Adagio sound like a broken doll. They didn't take Frost's death as easily as it seemed.

"Eisen sent me to get you guys. Frost's family was flown in."

The boys walked quietly through the hangar and ventured outside. There wasn't much to be said among them. They knew what was going to happen next.

Schmidt saw Bates walk up in formal military uniform. He saw them and said, "Where are your formal clothes guys?"

"I didn't expect an impromptu funeral Bates." Takashi said. "When I woke up today, I thought I would be doing work and expected a more formal invitation."

Bates was about to reply back but was stopped by the crowd standing before Eisen. They turned to see the group of boys talking amongst themselves.

They nodded and quickly turned to their seats which were positioned at the front near Frost's family. Eisen walked up to the podium and began talking.

"Friends and Family, we are here today to honor Sgt. Windsor Frost. He was killed in action during a valiant defense of our forces and will be honored for also saving his fellow soldiers with his sacrifice that allowed them to finish their mission. I have brought his family here to present them with the Striker Cross Award, which was saved only for a special occasion like today. I personally did not know him well, so I cannot speak for his bravery and courage in the face of death, but maybe his friends can say a few words?" Eisen stepped away from the mic and waited for one of the boys to speak.

After an excruciating pause, Schmidt came up to the podium.

"I only got to know Frost, I mean Windsor, in the short time that I have been here. He was a man of valor, someone who would attempt to do the right thing without prompting, and yesterday..." Schmidt's eyes started tearing up. "Yesterday... I was supposed to protect my comrade... But... But..." He was starting to become a blubbering mess. "But I couldn't save him... He saved our lives, he deserves this. I cannot begin to imagine your pain and suffering right now. Your boy was taken from you at such a young age." As Schmidt finished his sentence, soldiers and witches alike were slowly filing into the field where the half tracks were situated in. He didn't know if Eisen had set this up, or if people just wanted to remember the dead.

Schmidt took a deep breath and continued on. "Frost was one of the best soldiers I have ever worked with... I can't say the same about myself. I'm sorry... For everything. Thank you." By the time he finished, the audience had grown to hundreds as many came to say their last respects to the fallen striker pilot. Schmidt felt sick to his stomach when he realized that there were even more foot soldiers who died in battle as well. He wondered why didn't they get a funeral. Was it because Striker pilots are more important?

Eisen stepped back to the podium and said, "Before we move on I would like to address our audience about a special announcement. Squads stationed in Hangar 4 or chosen by me will be sent to the Administration building immediately after. Thank you. I would also like to have a close friend of Frost's to speak as well, Sgt. Alice Hall."

Alice walked up slowly to the podium. Schmidt doubted that she even knew about this impromptu funeral. "I... Uh... I don't know what to say. When I fighting out in the sky... I wasn't trying to get myself killed, I was just trying to protect my squad. That Neuroi capital was scary, but I thought I had enough time to get in and out. Sgt. Schmidt was helping me distract it, but we really didn't know what we were up against. I flew forward not realizing where he was, and what I was headed into. The last words he said before was to get out of there, but I was too late. I was suppressed. I thought I would die a horrible death. But no... That guy... He-He came out of nowhere and covered me as the Neuroi concentrated their fire on us."

She paused.

"I was able to get a shield up, but it wasn't enough to stop the shots from coming through. I felt a sickening thud as my shield shattered in the barrage, and I looked deep into his eyes. I saw fear and a bit of resignation, but the most important part was he didn't stop protecting me even after he lost consciousness... I'm sorry I'm giving you this memory... T-This was the first thing to come to my mind." Tears formed in her eyes. "I'm sorry Mr. and Mrs. Frost, we tried to save him! We really tried!" She burst into tears in front of the whole audience.

Schmidt stood up and shouted, "Alice! That's enough, don't do this to yourself!" A commotion started behind him as Bates stood up to stop Schmidt from interrupting anymore.

Alice replied back, "I can't Schmidt! God... Why are we here... This isn't what I had expected..." She slumped down and continued sobbing behind the podium as Justin came by to lead her away.

Eisen coolly came up to the podium and said, "That there is why we need to end this war. We cannot be sacrificing our children anymore than we should. I would like everyone to rise as we deliver and bury Sgt. Frost into his grave. Please follow me." He went into the Jeep and waited for the Halftrack carrying his coffin to follow.

Schmidt had regained his composure as the parade of marchers followed the jeep on the short solemn journey to the makeshift grave that had been built for Frost. It was a simple grave, not needing more than an hour to build, but a symbolic memorial to him and the others who died with him. Schmidt then saw why Eisen made a big commotion over this. There wasn't just one grave marker. There were hundreds.

"You're all wondering why I gave the impromptu funeral. I knew that the news would go around that an Assault Mage had been killed in action; that people would come to see that. However, I wanted to show the true cost of this war. What we lose in exchange for a victory. Take a look." He pointed at the neat rows of grave markers behind Frost's memorial. "I lost 157 men out there yesterday. It sickens me to know that this will never be remembered, this will only be remembered for the statistics and facts. I want you all to remember that every soldier under me will receive the same amount of respect that a striker pilot would." Eisen looked at Schmidt who had been looking far out into the distance at all the grave makers. "Their deaths were not in vain, but no one would have known until I made a big deal about Frost's death."

Bates slowly walked up to Eisen, prompting his guards to raise their guns at him. "Let him pass gentlemen. I think someone else would like to speak." The guards stood down.

"What the hell is wrong with you..." A cold anger was rising up in him. He pointed the finger at the Halftrack and then at Frost's family. "YOU USED THEM TO MAKE A POINT ABOUT THE OTHERS?! How do you think his family feels now? They deserve respect too!" Schmidt was taken aback by his outburst.

Eisen raised a hand at him and nodded, "I understand your concern, but would you be here if it was a foot soldier's funeral? We raise our pilots up to a massive standard, and yet we ignore the contribution of the others. Look at this field, remember Frost's sacrifice, and remember these men died for the same cause."

"Enough Bates!" Takashi hissed.

Bates was annoyed but he understood what he was trying to do. Schmidt did as well, it comforted him that Eisen understood that Frost was not the only death, but that others sacrificed themselves as well. The rest of the funeral was uneventful after that. Alice had disappeared, presumably to keep her composure, and Frost's family was slowly starting to breakdown into tears after they saw their son's body go under. Schmidt sent his silent sympathy for their loss and headed for the barracks with the rest of Hangar 4's pilots. As he walked Schmidt remembered the words of his father,

_Talis est bellum, __detesta matribus_... _mortis gloria sera venit. Such is war, the dread of mothers... for the glory comes too late._

* * *

Yoshika woke up in her assigned cot to find a note being slipped under the door. Yoshika read the note which said:

Your path will be seen through the full moon

the protectors will surround

and you shall be saved

The cryptic note then burst into flames. Yoshika pondered about its meaning before shaking it off. She looked outside her window on the second floor of Hangar 4 and saw people coming back to the hangar. She wondered if she had missed an event, though if it was required, someone would have woken her up. Yoshika walked outside her door to hear the faint sound of crying. She silently traveled down the stairs as she searched for the person who was crying. Yoshika soon ended up at the Dogknights barrack room, and peeked inside. There she saw Alice sitting on her bed crying her eyes out.

"Alice?", Yoshika called out quietly. "Are you alright?"

Alice looked up and wiped her eyes. "I'm fine... I just had... a moment..."

"I don't really believe you. Can I come in?"

Alice let out a small voice of agreement and opened the door to let Yoshika in. Her eyes were a deep red and her face was tear streaked.

"I'm guessing something happened involving Frost, right?"

"Yeah... his funeral..."

Yoshika raised her eyebrows in surprise. "A funeral? Why would Eisen do that? He's a good general and all, but I wouldn't expect him doing stuff like this..."

Alice sat down on her bed and sniffled. "They made me do a speech. I... I told everyone the truth."

"You mean how Frost sacrificed himself?"

Alice looked up, her tearstreaked eyes full of anger, "He only sacrificed himself for my stupidity! Thats the truth!"

Yoshika stared at her softly and shook her head. "I wish it was..."

"What do you mean?"

"In his last breaths... He told me that you were independent and stupid. Yet... I never sensed regret or anger... He never blamed you..." There was a pause. Yoshika saw that Alice was listening intently, even if her head was down. "I believe Frost was sad because he would be leaving you so early..."

Alice looked up at Yoshika. Yoshika noticed a faint pink blush slowly enveloping her cheeks. "S-So he wasn't angry at me?"

"Not at all." Yoshika smiled at Alice to put her at ease.

"So that's how it is then..."

Yoshika nodded. "Frost was a strong soldier, and a better friend. It would have been interesting to have gotten to know him better. Ah, but thats a bit late for that now isn't it?" She giggled a little and Alice followed suit. "You'll be fine. You're stronger than that, otherwise Frost wouldn't have left so peacefully."

Even though her head was down, Yoshika could tell Alice was smiling a little. "Ahh, but I have to go now. I have a few things to take care of."

"Ah okay..." Alice didn't want Yoshika to leave; she wanted to know more about her last chat with Frost, but she let her go. As Yoshika walked out the door Alice said, "Thanks Captain Miyafuji."

Yoshika turned around and smiled. "Call me Yoshika." She walked out. A few moments later she popped her head in and said, "One more thing. I know about the MA. Do not talk about it here though. Meet me at the graveyard at 2300."

All Alice could do was visibly gasp.

As Yoshika walked out of the room, she found Schmidt walking through the entrance.

"Schmidt, is it over already?"

He nodded. "Eisen told us to come back to the hangar for a meeting. Are you going to be there?"

Yoshika shook her head, "I have to deal with other issues right now. If I see you tell me what happens." She walked off as Schmidt stood there. A few steps later Yoshika turned around. "Oh Schmidt, do you know where he was buried?"

He pointed to the northeast.

"Thanks." She walked to the simple grave marking where Frost was buried. The walk was uneventful, she met no one along the way. The base was quieter than usual, except for the construction vehicles working on the destroyed tower. No one wanted to know who actually died in that tower, but jeeps with body bags came and left once in a while.

Yoshika soon reached the graveyard of the fallen soldiers, headlined by Frost's grave marker. "Sorry I missed your funeral."

The wind blew as she kneeled on the ground and sighed. "Why are we here... Why do I have to be the one to save the world? You left too early... you left me with no information, nothing I can do to stop the Neuroi, and you're expecting me to defeat them?! How can I leave my friends... Two of them are already gone..."

Footsteps sounded behind her. She didn't expect someone following her.

It was Guardian.

"Yoshika, what are you doing?", he said.

"I'm saying goodbye to him, what else?" Yoshika said tersely.

"What's this talk about leaving?"

Yoshika looked up, "Nothing. I'm taking a leave soon though. I need to get some business done in Romagna."

Guardian shook his head. "I can't let you do that Yoshika."

"What...? Why..."

Guardian took a few steps towards her. "Because..." He took off his mask and smiled a dark smile. The smile wasn't reassuring at all to Yoshika. She felt a cold creeping upon her body as his smile slowly started to darken. "Because letting you leave would be a problem."

Yoshika's eyes quickly noticed his hands had reached for a knife. "How would letting me leave be a problem?" Frost's prophecy had come true, but she had to prevent him from knowing that she knew this would happen. "I would come back immediately if I was needed."

Guardian took another step closer. "Tsk Tsk, how naive. I know you called Anna. I know your connection to the MA. I also know the time that I lured you into that hive in Britannia."

Yoshika's blood froze. "H-How do you know this...?"

"Because..." He smiled and his face contorted and darkened into a familiar shape. Its voice echoed out in a booming yet raspy and chilling way, "Do you remember this Miyafuji?"

"Y-You..." She remembered when she saw the Neuroi girl bring her into the hive. "But you were destroyed..."

Guardian, or the Neuroi Guardian, laughed. It was a cackling laugh and it brought time to a standstill as he raised the knife... "I'll tell you this Miyafuji... Those Neuroi girls were agents sent to kill you. You were a target since you were born. We eliminated your father, and we'll eliminate you." Guardian's face reverted back to normal. "And the sad part? No one will know who did it." He lunged forward.

Yoshika rolled backwards and said, "I won't be killed that easily Guardian!" She waited for his next move but he sheathed the knife.

"Tch, killing you now wouldn't help me at all. You will live today Miyafuji. I am a Neuroi of my word. However... come midnight... I will kill you." He walked off waving at Yoshika as if she was a normal person.

"Guardian!" She shouted with fire in her eyes. "You won't kill me tonight. But one day... One day I will come back, and I will stop you! I swear my word on it!"

Guardian stopped and smiled. "That... That is a fight I long to see. That is... if you can even leave..." He cackled as he walked away.

Yoshika looked on as he disappeared from sight. She soon walked off as well.

* * *

The soldiers from Hangar 4 milled around wondering what Eisen had called them in for. Eisen walked in a few minutes later.

"Settle down, Settle down soldiers. Welcome to your first training. I've gotten word from Allied Command. You are all officially part of the R.E.C.O.N. Division of the Allied Forces. There will be a transition period where you will be trained and the administration will get acquainted to its new assignments. Our motto shall be: _Defensio laten ex caelum_. Defending the secret of the skies. You are now not soldiers of the Allied Army, but the defenders of the skies. Therefore, we must give you a new weapon: the R.E.C.O.N. Striker created by Dr. Miyafuji's notes. It is a multi-use striker built for all situations. However it is a technically hard striker to control and therefore I am sending everyone to a training retreat in the mountains to practice use before our official designation."

He then pointed at a blackboard with all of the strikers characteristics.

"This striker is built for stealth, speed, agility, and ruggedness. We have a special type of wing attached to it based upon the magical pulses one sends to it. A strong pulse will extend the wings fully, while a weaker pulse will make the wings only extend a little. The 501st is here to explain further."

Shirley leaned forward from her position in the back. "Well... General Eisen is correct in the fact that it is based upon magical pulses, but really you can't fly this thing without learning to control your magic. It is very fast, faster than most, if not all, strikers Ive flown. It uses a new type of jet propulsion technology which does give it a certain edge. I think Major Barkhorn has a better control of the combat characteristics."

Gertrud choked on some spit; she was clearly not expecting to talk. "Umm... In a few words the striker does very well at dodging Neuroi shots and the like. Theres really nothing more to say."

Some of the recruits were nodding at the new striker and what it could do. In their eyes, it was a new weapon that only they could use. However, it seemed to have no purpose, and there were others more suited to the pilots.

Alice said quietly, "What is our purpose? Our _true _purpose. Why are we called R.E.C.O.N.?"

Eisen sighed and said, "Officially, we are just a scouting division. We don't do anything. Unofficially, we are the Black Ops of the Striker Division. Your orders come directly from the Director, the Allied Commanders, or me."

"The Director?" Gregory said out loud, "What the hell does he do?"

"The Director hasn't been decided yet. However, he assigns missions to teams, which this training retreat will place you in. For this retreat, all units leave at 0000 and I expect to be ready by 2330. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!"

Eisen saluted. "Then you are dismissed for now. However, be warned, this is will not be like basic training. Expect blood. Do not fear death. Take care of your loose ends now, because you wont have a chance after this." He walked out of the room, and the room enveloped into chaos. Most people were excited for the chance to be in a different class than regular strikers. However, Schmidt and his group were slightly hesitant to join this division.

Gregory said,"I dunno Schmidt, it seems like we will end up fighting in the same situations as last time."

Hall quietly said, "I'm not too keen in keeping more secrets. However, Schmidt, are you sure you want in?"

DuMont also said, "Schmidt, I know that you are capable, but I doubt R.E.C.O.N. missions will let you do that mistake again. You need to be ready."

Schmidt was annoyed.

_What the hell guys? Why is everyone worried about me?!_

Korsky and Anderson quickly jumped to Schmidt's defense, "Hey, he's a capable leader. And I was there when that happened, we all were. If we were the leader, and we one of our friends run into certain death, what would we have done?!"

Anderson also added, "He did everything he could. R.E.C.O.N. might give him another chance to make it up to himself, if anything, I wouldn't worry about him. I'd worry about what we are headed into."

Takashi walked over with Alice and her squad and said, "Look, there's a good chance we're gonna get split up. So like Pvt. Anderson says, focus on the big picture. We're not going to be fighting Neuroi with the Army anymore. If anything, imagine fighting Neuroi with a size about half of our team the other day."

They thought about it for a while. Alice then finally said, "Then that should be fine. There's a reason we are in this division now. Let's not worry about it and only get ready for the future."

Everyone nodded. Schmidt then got up and said, "So shall we get our last lunch and pack up?"

"Lets go!"

The lunch was quiet. Everyone had certain things on their mind, some about Frost, some about R.E.C.O.N.. Schmidt wondered what exactly Eisen had planned for them, but considering the new striker, Eisen was looking to standardize the Striker Division. However, the most confusing part was who would be "director" of R.E.C.O.N.. The director had the most powerful strikers and most experienced pilots behind him which tipped the balance of power from Eisen to the Director.

"Hey Schmidt, are you thinking about R.E.C.O.N.?" Alice said.

"Yeah... Though I don't know if I should be worried about it."

Adagio murmured, "From what I've heard, Eisen is trying for a power grab to prevent other Allied Generals from taking over."

Bates looked up from his food. "You really think? I can't see Eisen trying that. There's too much to risk for a power grab like that."

Alice sighed, "R.E.C.O.N. is most likely the strongest section of our armed forces. If anyone were to go against R.E.C.O.N. or its director for that matter, we will be sent to change their minds."

Then Justin walked over and said, "Basically... We're a private striker army. Theres no reason for our existance... Unless there is resistance to full out war with the Neuroi."

Adagio nodded, "There's been a chill in the relations between Gallia and the rest of the Allied Forces. R.E.C.O.N. is unknown, so we can do some "pushing" to get them on our side."

Takeshi, who had been listening this whole time, also nodded and said, "Whatever R.E.C.O.N. is for, I'm sure that it won't be solely for Neuroi battles."

Schmidt got up and said, "I'm done with this, we're getting worried about something that could be more complicated than what we're seeing. Im going to get ready. You guys should too."

The conversation was getting too dangerous to talk about in the open. Schmidt knew there would be listeners and he had a feeling that the conversation should stop there.

There was something he was certain of though: The real war was about to begin.

* * *

Yoshika packed up her stuff and walked out of the hangar. She had to find a place to camp out while thinking about her next steps. She remembered the note saying something about the path being lit up by the full moon. While she was there she waited at the graveyard for Alice. The gates were completely lit up by the full moon.

Alice came right on time, and she brought Justin with her as well. "Yoshika, how did you know?"

Yoshika nodded, "Frost told me. He told me everything I needed to know, and I have a good reason to leave now."

Justin said, "Ill tell them you'll be coming. Who is the contact?"

"Anna."

The two sibling's eyes widened. They hadn't expected Yoshika to be friends with the Librarian. Alice couldn't resist asking, "But why now? There will be better opportunities. And we won't be able to fufill our mission."

Yoshika nodded, "Its fine. Don't worry about it. I need you to focus on your current assignments. From the looks of your backpacks, you're going somewhere like the rest of Hangar 4."

Justin nodded, "R.E.C.O.N. training or something like that."

"Both of you?"

They nodded.

Yoshika sighed. "Look, I'm going with Anna who will connect me to the MA. I have a feeling I'm going to be a wanted fugitive after this, so I need you to sabotage any chances of R.E.C.O.N. finding me. They will most likely have extraction teams. Get on them."

They nodded. As they were talking 5 covered half tracks entered the gates.

Yoshika mused, "So thats how it is..."

Alice looked over at the halftracks and noticed that they were loading strikers into the back. Eisen was entering silently into the front one. "It looks like Eisen is actually going with us."

Yoshika noticed someone else getting on as well. The person entering the driver's seat next to Eisen was none other than Guardian. "So they say. Alice, Justin, I need you to be careful of who ever leads R.E.C.O.N.-"

"The director?"

"If that's what he is called. If anything the director will want me back no matter what." Yoshika also noticed Kazuo getting into one of the Halftracks and wondered if he was working with Guardian. Was it possible? "I can't be holding you guys up anymore. Here are your new missions. Make sure R.E.C.O.N. cannot find me. This maybe the last time I speak to you as a friend. Good luck."

The two siblings nodded and left the graveyard silently. Yoshika waited a few minutes then went to survey the halftracks. They were in a circle, but this was to have them fit all of the halftracks and have them leave quickly. Yoshika decided that it would be easiest to enter and leave through the last halftrack. She looked at what was being loaded in the last halftrack and saw strikers being loaded. She sighed in relief and quickly ran towards the buildings. While running there, she took the time to grab a small pistol from the armory before quickly ducking into the back of the final halftrack. She hid behind the strikers as they did their final checks before the convoy left.

As the convoy left Yoshika let out a sigh of relief. She was far away from Guardian and no one except for Alice and Justin knew she was piggybacking. She sat at the back lip of the halftrack as it drove towards Neuroi territory. She wondered what the note meant by "the protectors will surround", but she was interrupted by a sound behind her.

"Guess the time Miyafuji." A voice said behind her. She was frozen solid. Her pistol was still in her pack but she couldn't think of anything at the moment. "You know now don't you? Its midnight." A cold sweat ran down her neck. A cold knife ran down her neck a second after.

"Weren't you supposed to be driving?"

"Tsk Tsk... I told Eisen to guard these strikers better...So I volunteered" Guardian's voice was cold and harsh like earlier that day. "Its like someone could just "steal" them and tell our enemies... Now we wouldn't want that... right Miyafuji?"

Yoshika steadied her voice enough to reply, "No... He wouldn't."

"He? Aren't Eisen and I on the same side? Ah. But you know the truth... and I can't let that get out."

"No you cant. That's why..." Yoshika unlatched her pack.

"That's why what?" He leaned forward, as if to taste her fear.

"That's why I'll kill you RIGHT NOW!" She opened the pack and grabbed her pistol and quickly fired it straight into Guardian's chest.

"Ugh... Shit..." He fell over.

_Was it really that easy?_

He looked up. "Just kidding." He lunged his knife at her. Guardian wasn't in his human form anymore, but a gruesome version of Neuroi and human. His eyes were lopsided, patches of skin peeling off showing the black Neuroi hexagons, and where his chest had been, was just an open space. Yoshika almost fell over but she regained her balance and rolled behind the strikers. "Did you think you could kill me like that?! Pathetic!"

_Where the hell are the protectors from that note?!  
_

"Then Ill shoot you until I can kill you!" Yoshika shot more bullets at Guardian; she aimed at his head, arms, and legs but to no avail.

"Mwahahaha... You cannot find my core! Now die, pest!" Guardian's mangled body crashed through the strikers and almost crushed Yoshika in the space between. She quickly climbed outside to the top of the halftrack. "Where is the MA?! Show yourselves!" He took a few more steps towards Yoshika. She was quickly running out of options. All of a sudden a bright flash knocked Guardian to his side.

"MIYAFUJI! WHEN THE SEAL APPEARS JUMP INTO IT!" a voice shouted. Yoshika looked around and saw 5 figures shrouded in black cloaks surrounding her.

"One hell of a time to show up..." she muttered. Guardian was slowly climbing up the covered halftrack and causing the fabric to shift around and make her lose her balance.

A golden star seal started to form as the 5 figures got into position behind the last halftrack.

Yoshika shouted out, "Who are you?"

The voice replied back, "We are the MA, and we're here to escort you. We would have been here earlier if Anna had been ready earlier, but whats done is done. Get ready, its almost done!"

Yoshika nodded. A bright flash emitted from the seal as Guardian finally got back up to the roof.

"Its now or never! JUMP!"

Guardian jumped at her. "OH NO YOU DON'T!"

Yoshika ran and jumped, barely missing Guardian's reach and entered a dark abyss.

The voice shouted, "Close the seal!"

The 5 figures converged and blocked Guardian from chasing after her. As revenge he tried to use a Neuroi laser at the 5 figures but they scrambled just as a seal broke and returned his attack back with such a force that it forced the convoy to stop as they disappeared over the horizon.

Eisen ran to the back and saw the damage. "What the hell happened?!"

Guardian crawled out of the back of the halftrack and looked very ragged. His clothes were ripped and his mask was cracked. "We were attacked. She came."

"Who did?!"

"Eisen, I warned you..." The others started running up to the damaged halftrack. "There would be a stowaway."

The others started asking what was going on. Guardian turned to them and said, "I stowed away in the back to see if anyone tried to sneak in, and I was right. I found Captain Miyafuji sneaking into the halftrack when she wasn't an authorized R.E.C.O.N. agent. She resisted arrest, and I tried to subdue her with all force possible, but she got away with help from another shady group. She got away with some important intel on the R.E.C.O.N. organization."

Eisen looked stone cold at the evidence he was given. "Are you sure this is really what happened?"

Guardian nodded.

Eisen sighed. "She was promising too. But nevertheless, from this point on, Captain Miyafuji Yoshika is now a R.E.C.O.N. target, dead or alive. She needs to pay for what she has done."

* * *

**AN: Holy crap this is around 6500 words! College sucks up so much of my time, I rarely can work on this. However, this winter break I got time to finish this massive chapter. How do you like it? I wouldn't mind feedback on how this chapter turned out, I made some risky moves and I hope that you liked them. Just as a note, if you still remember Kazuo (If you don't go read the earlier chapters!), he hasn't had a big role, but he will have a bigger role later on. I'm having a bit of writers block on the next chapter so I don't know when the next one will come. Poke out!  
**


	15. Aetas and Caelum

"Keep the seal steady! I'm going to pull her out!" Anna shouted.

Mio and Minna concentrated their magic into a seal drawn onto the floor of Anna's house. Anna grabbed a rope tied around a heavy bookcase and tied the other end around herself tightly. As the seal opened she jumped into the dark abyss that also had Yoshika in it.

Anna called out, "Yoshika! Where are you?"

No answer.

The abyss was dark, but not in the blinding sense of dark, more as in that there was nothing there. No matter existed, nor was it supposed to. No, this sort of "dark" was the imposing sense of negativity that surrounded the place, which Anna dreaded about this place.

"Humanity's knowledge on everything magical, including this godforsaken place, and I still get the chills here.", she muttered.

She drifted further on, it seemed like hours. Anna looked behind her, noticing that her rope was still as loose as when she jumped in. However as she looked back she saw Yoshika drifting around the nothingness as if it was her hometown. Anna found it suspicious that Yoshika was comfortable with this place, but she didn't say anything out loud.

Yoshika noticed Anna was waving her down and headed straight for her. Anna soon grabbed her and followed the rope back to the other side.

As she exited the void, Yoshika was immediately hit by 2 hugs. It was Mio and Minna.

"Mio, Minna! What are you doing here?!"

"It's a long story," Minna said, "Don't worry though, everyone else back there will know we're fine soon."

Yoshika nodded and turned to Mio. "I'm here for the ritual you talked about."

Mio smiled, "I know. We've been here chatting with Anna about how this is supposed to work."

Anna nodded, "Yes well, I'd rather get this mess off of my floor first. Yoshika, go freshen up. I'll have breakfast and tea ready soon."

"Oh okay."

Anna turned to the other two. "While I start making the tea, do you mind cleaning up the seal, thanks." She walked away.

Mio and Minna looked at each other. The seal was made with a type of ash mixed with water and painted onto the floor making a black goo that was extremely sticky. As they looked at the floor, they both made a collective word of, "Shit."

Yoshika sat in the bath and looked out of the window. The moon was high in the sky, so she wondered if the convoy had reached its destination yet. Guardian was the only one who knew about her "defection", but knowing him, he would quickly use it to turn her former allies into her enemies. She sighed and finished her bath.

Yoshika came downstairs to see Anna finishing up breakfast and setting it on the table.

"Where's Mio and Minna, Anna?"

She looked up and said, "Oh they're cleaning up. Come here I need to talk to you alone."

Yoshika sat down at the table.

Anna soon sat down with a cup of tea for both of them. "Yoshika, you are going to begin going down a tough path, and there will be many sacrifices made for you to live on. Are you willing to do what ever it takes to fulfill your destiny?"

Yoshika nodded. "I'm ready to leave my past behind for a better future."

Anna stared at her for a moment. "Good." Then she smiled. "When I first met you, you were so insecure of what you were doing here, but now you're growing into a confident young woman. It reminds me of me when I was your age..."

Mio and Minna entered the room with buckets and black rags. "I am not dealing with that again..."

Anna turned her head toward the two and said, "Ahh, you two, please come eat breakfast. I know its early, but think of it as a homecoming for Yoshika." They nodded and went to wash their hands. "Yoshika, we will be doing the ritual in a few hours, but I need to prepare some stuff first. And no, I won't need your help. You girls did wonderfully but now it's my turn. Please, have some rest."

The breakfast was nice; it wasn't much, but it was completely different from what Yoshika had been eating at the base. She was happy to see Mio and Minna, and even talked to the two about trivial things for a while while Anna excused herself early.

"So Yoshika, what are you going to do when you get your powers back?" Minna asked.

"Ahh... I think I'm gonna join forces with the MA. I have a feeling that I'm not wanted back at the base."

Mio raised her eyebrows.

_What did she mean "not wanted back at the base"...?_

"Yoshika you knew about the MA as well? How did you find out?"

Yoshika paused. She assumed Anna had told them everything, but she wanted to make sure.

"Before I say, how did you find out?"

She stared at them quietly, waiting for their answer. Minna was obviously put off by Yoshika's suspicious reaction, but Mio wasted no time answering her question.

"Anna told us. She told us about Alice, Justin, and Frost. Happy?"

Yoshika let down her guard once Mio mentioned Frost's name. "Sorry. I just wanted to make sure. I found out through Frost before... well... Yeah."

The two girls' eyes widened. Mio was speechless as Minna slowly said, "Frost... He... He didn't... right?"

Yoshika nodded her head. "He sacrificed himself. Eisen made a big deal about it."

Minna closed her eyes and whispered a small prayer as Mio looked at Yoshika. Mio noticed Yoshika seemed like she was putting on a false front about Frost; this was not all she saw from him.

"When you were treating Frost..." Mio slowly said, "Did he say anything... about the MA... or you?"

Yoshika was caught off guard by Mio's question. "N-No, what makes you say that?"

Minna looked up and stared at Yoshika. "Miyafuji. What are you hiding?"

Anna walked to the table and slammed a book on the table. "Enough. I can hear you from where I was earlier. Every one of you girls are tired, and its affecting the mood. Go to bed, at least I'll be able to hear myself think."

Everyone nodded and headed off. However Mio stayed behind and went to talk to Anna.

"Anna... Frost told something about Yoshika, something she's hiding. Do you know anything?"

Anna, never looking up once, said, "Things will be revealed in due time. Do not try to trick fate, it has a funny way of showing itself."

"But-"

"Not one more word. I know you worry for the girl, and I do too, but what ever Frost said to her needs to be left unsaid. She is in a fragile state of mind, and I've gotten word that she was attacked not long before coming here."

"By who?!"

"As I said, they will reveal themselves in due time. I have a feeling that her escape will only be just the beginning. Now get some rest. A long day awaits us."

Anna shooed Mio out and closed the door.

As Mio walked to her bunk, she asked herself:

_What have we gotten into?_

* * *

Schmidt got out of the halftrack after an eight hour ride to the training ground and looked around. The ground was a small castle with a bunch of tents surrounding it. It also had a rudimentary airstrip and no buildings to be found. The others got out after him started complaining.

"What the hell?! I thought we would be going somewhere cool!" Gregory shouted

Justin sighed, "Eisen did say this would be a hard training. Didn't know he meant us actually weathering the elements."

Eisen got out of the first halftrack and started talking to a man in a long white hooded coat.

"So are you going to accept? She's gone now,but you can make it a priority to catch her when we finish training."

The man nodded. He walked away without a sound towards the castle.

Schmidt and the others were corralled into a small area in front of the castle so Eisen could speak to them all.

"Welcome to the R.E.C.O.N. training camp. As you can tell, it's complete shit, and that's the way it's supposed to be. You need to realize that being a R.E.C.O.N. agent will mean that you will sometimes go without nice things for weeks, or even take off on things that aren't runways. Here is the place where you become less of a Striker Pilot and become one with your striker." A rack of strikers were lined up behind him. "On these racks are strikers with a unique code marking your designation. As such, we will be lining up everyone based on their designations."

He pointed to a rack with gray strikers with a red stripe around the wing. "This will be designated R.E.C.O.N. Alpha."

The next rack had again, gray strikers, but with a blue stripe. "This will be R.E.C.O.N. Beta."

He continued on for the next few racks culminating in the rest of the R.E.C.O.N. teams. There were 6 teams in all: Alpha, Beta, Sigma, Gamma, Lambda, Theta. However one rack was left alone. Eisen finally walked over to that rack. The strikers were a completely different color scheme, they were a dark shade of black with gold stripe around the wings. "This... This is R.E.C.O.N. Zero. The people picked will be notified later today, and are always under direct orders from the director and me. That is all."

Eisen then placed lists on the tables showing which team each person was part of. Schmidt walked over to Alpha and saw his name.

Schmidt found Takashi and asked him, "What team are you part of?"

He pointed over at Gamma's table. "The choices for each team are not random. There's something with each team that he wants. I'm betting that's why we're in training."

Anderson and Korsky came up running shouting, "We're in Alpha with you Sergeant!"

Schmidt smiled – at least he won't be alone here.

DuMont and Alice came up to announce they had been put in Beta. Adagio then came up to say the same. The group had been split up like everyone had predicted, but it seemed like it was better than before. People seemed happy for some reason.

"Wait, doesn't that mean we'll be seperated?" he asked.

They nodded. However Gregory came up and said, "I wouldn't worry about it Schmidt. We'll probably be housed in the same building no matter what!"

"I don't think that's what he's worried about." Alice said.

"I'm not. You have to realize that we won't be together like before. If you guys... well... we probably will never know." Schmidt looked on at Eisen.

Adagio spoke up, "Eisen won't be that sadistic. We lived in the same hangar for a little while, and got a battle done too. He's not gonna split us up. The director however..."

Korsky spoke up too, "Don't worry Sarge. We're a team. Oh they're calling us back. Good luck guys!"

Schmidt nodded and waved them off.

"Now that everyone has their teams, they will be given flight designations. Let us begin."

Schmidt's name was called first. He was given the designation: Alpha 3.

He headed for the point and looked at who his squadmates were. They seemed to be average striker pilots, and the genders were evenly distributed. Soon enough a large imposing man walked up to the group.

"Hello, I am Agent Gabriel, and I will be leading the trainings for Alpha squad. Follow me please."

Schmidt and the others followed Agent Gabriel inside the castle and found that the castle was full of equipment such as radios and maps. "This castle is R.E.C.O.N.'s HQ. We decided it would be best to place it far from the base to prevent any unnecessary attacks on the base. There are 6 staging rooms that lead to runways. Our staging room is this way."

The staging room Agent Gabriel was talking about was a big room with strikers, weapons, and a place to hang a map to plan out missions.

"Welcome to the R.E.C.O.N. Program. You are Alpha squad, the Special Reconnissance/Fast Attack role of R.E.C.O.N. . Your main missions will be mainly deep strikes into Neuroi territory and taking out Neuroi before our troops occupy the territory. Beta and Gamma squads will join you very often on missions, but they have different jobs than us there. Before I begin our training schedule, are there any questions?"

A girl raised her hand. Gabriel pointed at her and said, "Name and rank please?"

"I am Chloe Smith, Corporal of the Allied Striker Force."

"You're from Liberion, correct Corporal Smith?"

She nodded. He waited for her question. "How did you choose who would go where?"

Gabriel thought for a moment and replied, "From what I know about Alpha squad placements, it's that everyone here has the ability to survive no matter the situation."

Schmidt and the other people in the room blushed at the complement, but they knew it was true. Anderson and Korsky fought with him in their first battle, now dubbed, "Battle of the Bulge" because of where the Neuroi line stalled out. The other people also fought in that battle, and one of them had a Dogknight Squad patch on her shoulder.

"Shall we begin the training schedule then? Most of the training will be striker flying, so we will be suiting up very soon to begin Supersonic training. This will be very harsh on your bodies, so we have created suits that will use your magical abilities to streamline your path and reduce stress in general. The suits are next to the strikers. I'll be observing and instructing from the ground."

He then walked to a suitcase and gave everyone a special black headset.

"These are R.E.C.O.N. headsets. When your squad has relevant information being sent to them, these will hear it no matter what. These will be used for the instruction today. Good luck."

He walked out of the room.

Schmidt put on his suit and felt a small pressure surround his body. Agent Gabriel's voice sounded through the headset. "Do you feel the pressure? That's the magic shielding you. We will begin with a simultaneous launch, so all Alphas to the launch bay."

Schmidt entered the striker. He felt another small pressure enter his legs and felt slightly fatigued.

_So this is why we need to train... We're gonna die in these strikers before the Neuroi even have a chance..._

"Focus your magic to the engines."

The roar of the striker jets filled the launch room. "Five..."

A wall started to lift up. "Four..."

Schmidt looked around and saw Anderson and Korsky nodding. "Three..."

He nodded back. "Two..."

They focused their eyes on the deep blue sky that awaited them. "One..."

Schmidt felt the locks slowly turning to set them free. "LIFTOFF."

The strikers shrieked as they were released and blasted all 8 members forward as they launched into the sky. As they flew further, Gabriel came on and said, "Start Cruising and fly around HQ until we set up our monitoring system. Standby."

He released magic from the engines and felt the wings move as he reached cruising speed. Alpha Squad did not go unnoticed from the ground as the rest of the squads looked up at them. Schmidt felt strangely at ease being in the air looking down at the world at this point.

"Alpha Squad, systems are up. Get ready to demonstrate to the rest of the agency how Alpha Squad makes an appearance, Supersonic velocity in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1..."

Schmidt sent a full rush of his magic to the engines which screamed as his speed exploded as the world rushed by below them. However, it seemed as things were slowing down, everyone's reactions were slowed, and it felt as if he was the only one at normal speed.

"SCHMIDT! SCHMIDT! SLOW DOWN!" a voice called.

_What the?!_

"Schmidt, what the hell are you doing?!" Gabriel called out.

He looked around. His squad was nowhere to be seen, and he didn't recognize where he was.

"What the hell happened?!" Schmidt said.

As he was trying to find out where he was, he spotted a Neuroi ship in the distance. He slowly watched it from a distance, and didn't realize it was getting closer to him. All of a sudden, a barrage of shots come from above as the Neuroi ship launched a massive volley at the vulnerable striker pilot.

Schmidt freaked out as the bullets began to slow again. He dodged them gingerly, not understanding why the bullets were slowing for him yet again. When he finished dodging, he returned fire at the ship and got a lucky shot off on the core, destroying it. By then, his squad had caught up and were amazed at his skills.

"Sgt. Schmidt! Where did you learn to do that?!" One of the squad mates said. "Oh where are my manners, I'm Karl Strenbauch from Karsland just like you!"

"I don't know it just happened." he said.

Korsky flew up and said, "We came back for you. Don't leave us like that again."

Schmidt was confused, "Korsky, what the hell happened?"

"You went into a trance, and all of a sudden you somehow doubled your speed!"

"I did _what_?!" Schmidt said flabbergasted.

"Sgt. Schmidt, come back to base. The Director needs to talk to you." Gabriel said.

They returned to base, no one had known what exactly had happened to Schmidt, so he was lucky there wasn't a commotion. However Gabriel started ripping him apart once he was released from his striker.

"What in the _hell_ were you thinking Sergeant?! You can't just go zooming off without your team!"

"Agent Gabriel. That is enough." said a voice behind him.

"Oh... Director." Gabriel said meekly.

"Schmidt, come with me."

The Director was wearing a white great coat, which contrasted with Agent Gabriels dark trenchcoat. His face was covered except for his eyes, which had a familiar feeling. Schmidt followed him all the way down the hall to a dead end. Suddenly, a grate closed behind him and the floor started rising.

The Director turned towards Schmidt and asked, "Schmidt, now that the distractions are gone, I want to ask you something. When you entered that trance, what did you feel?"

"Everything slowed down... I was still normal speed though." Schmidt thought further, "It seemed as if I was getting faster, but I was still inputting the same amount as usual."

The Director nodded. The floor stopped moving and the grate opened. They walked down a long hallway until they reached a door guarded by Black Ops soldiers. They raised their weapons at Schmidt, but The Director raised his hand. The soldiers put down their weapons and saluted. Schmidt entered the room and saw that it was its own HQ.

"Schmidt, welcome to R.E.C.O.N.'s Command Center. This is also R.E.C.O.N. Zero's staging room. Speaking of which, I've already sent for the rest of R.E.C.O.N. Zero. Eisen wants Zero to find codename: Foxfire. We've tracked it to Romagna. Your job is to get it. If you can't, kill it."

"Is there a reason?"

The Director stared at him. "None."

"Why tell us to kill something then?"

A pause. The Director kept on staring at Schmidt.

"Welcome to R.E.C.O.N."

Yoshika woke up at noon. She looked out of her room and saw the same 5 people that saved her from Guardian on the convoy. They were standing in a circle with Anna on the outside chanting.

She walked outside and and sat on the ground next to them. A seal was forming around them as magic swirled around. Yoshika could feel it, but for some reason she couldn't touch it. She closed her eyes and took everything in.

_Isn't this what you wanted?_, a voice said behind her.

"Why are you here again?"

_You're hesitating._

"I'm already here aren't I?"

_But you would rather not._

"I had no choice. Guardian would have killed me first."

_Then let go. Your past life will never be the same. It won't come back._

"Don't you think I know that?!"

_Then why do you think that everything will be the same? The war you've known is a lie. The Neuroi have infiltrated your own allies and who knows where else. _

"What's your point?"

_You can't ignore it. You're already tied to this war._

"I know that already. You still haven't answered my question."

_You don't get it do you? The reason the Neuroi have hidden amongst us was to kill you. If it was to just eliminate the human army, then they would have done it before we amassed our striker forces. They want you dead. You're going to be something they fear very much, and they want to stop it before you get there._

"You're a figment of my imagination. How did you get all that?!"

_You've been ignoring that this whole time. This isn't a game anymore. Face your destiny._

Yoshika sat up and sighed. The voice behind her had disappeared, but that voice was right. She had been hiding from the truth. Right in front of her was a choice that she had made alone, and she will be the one to see it through.

Anna looked up from her chanting and motioned Yoshika over.

"Yoshika, go get Mio from her room and we will start the ceremony."

Yoshika went to the room Mio and Minna were staying and opened the door slowly. Minna was still sleeping but Mio was silently meditating. Yoshika opened the door a little more, and the creak snapped Mio from her meditation and she looked up.

"Yoshika... Is it time?" she asked.

Yoshika nodded.

Mio went over and shook Minna awake. "Its time."

Minna opened her eyes and nodded. She got dressed and brushed her hair a little.

"Mio..." Minna said. "Do you remember what I told you earlier?"

Mio replied, "I do. I still intend to go back."

"Back to where?" Yoshika asked.

"Back to the base. Minna and I we're missing since the battle, but we had conveniently used the tower being hit to teleport to Anna's place. Sorry Yoshika."

"Is that the reason no ones been worried?!" Yoshika said angrily. "You left me out of it?!"

"Eisen had his reasons. He told me he'd find a way to get us there with out anyone knowing. The rest of the girls knew because we told them we'd be going somewhere for a bit before they launched."

"DO YOU REALIZE HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE INJURED?!" she roared. "I had to treat a girl with a bar sticking out of her stomach! Is this what you consider "_convenient_"?!"

"Yoshika, calm down!" Minna said quietly.

"Then explain to me why so many people had to suffer for a hidden way out."

"How were we supposed to expect a Neuroi shot hitting the tower?!" Mio said.

"That wasn't a Neuroi shot!"

"WHAT?!" they both said.

"That... That was Hard Rain..." Yoshika said sadly.

"Hard Rain...?"

"Hard Rain is the codename of the Research Project designed to create an artillery shot to destroy Neuroi. It coincidentally had the effect of looking like a Neuroi shot when fired also."

"But then how are you able to tell the difference?" Minna asked.

"Hard Rain is first and foremost an artillery shot. Neuroi shots are powerful, but they require large amounts to destroy most buildings. One Neuroi shot, save for a capital, could not have done that."

"Yoshika..." Mio said cautiously, "if what you say is true... then..."

"Then whoever controlled Hard Rain is responsible."

"So Eisen." Mio said. She frowned as Eisen wasn't one to try and kill allies.

Yoshika nodded. "No. Guardian."

"Guardian?!" Mio gasped.

"Guardian was the one who allowed Thunderhead Division to get access to Hard Rain. It was only used once."

"H-How do you know this?"

"I'm part of the Research Division remember? I know when things happen. I never saw it, but from what I heard from people, the artillery destroyed most of the Neuroi."

Both of the girls sighed. "It never is simple is it? Thank you Yoshika, we'll make sure we watch out for Guardian. Shall we get going?"

Yoshika nodded.

_Guardian's the least of your problems. Why did he fire the shot... That's the main question._

The girls went out side and met Anna at the circle.

"Mio, Yoshika. Enter the circle."

They entered it.

"This is your final chance Mio. You can decline this and I can stop the ceremony. But once it begins there is no going back. There is also a possibility of your life force being transferred as well. We do not know why this happens, but if you accept, you will take in this risk also."

Mio nodded. Anna nodded as well and told the 5 people standing in a circle to begin chanting.

The seal began glowing and lifted Yoshika and Mio off the ground. A blue aura surrounded Mio and enveloped her in a blinding blue light. Mio started to scream out as the aura grew darker and Yoshika saw her visibly in pain.

"Mio, are you alright?!" she shouted.

"I'm fine! This is... nothing to worry about...!"

The blue aura soon started to separate from Mio, causing her to scream out in pain as the aura forcibly removed what little magic left from her. It was painfully slow and the screams were too much for Yoshika to hear.

"Yoshika! Stay calm, the ritual will fail if you find doubts!" Anna shouted.

"But..."

"NO YOSHIKA!" Mio shouted, "We've gone too far to fail now! I'll be fine, so please, do not worry!"

"Okay!" Yoshika shouted. The blue aura was almost completely separated from Mio, and Yoshika soon knew it would be transferred into her. The aura detached itself and instantly hit Yoshika with a burst of magical power.

The five people on the ground then quickly activated a seal which forced Yoshika's flailing body and Mio's limp body to the ground. Yoshika felt pain from hitting the ground, but she also felt something trying to be torn out of her body as well.

"Anna!" one of the five shouted. "the seal can only hold for a few seconds! We need to hurry!"

The blue aura was becoming tinged with red streaks.

Another one of the five shouted, "It's taking Yoshika's life force! Anna!"

Yoshika felt faint. As her consciousness faded in and out, she saw Anna lean over her and her whole body glow with runes drawn onto her body.

Anna said, "I'm going to need you five to force the magic back in. After that we will release the seal. If we are lucky..." She looked at Yoshika, who had lost consciousness at this point, "Then she will activate it."

They nodded. They focused their hands on the blue and red aura seeping out of Yoshika and resealed it inside of her body, leaving nothing but a seal on her hand.

"Break it off now."

The seal was deactivated. Mio came to a few seconds later.

She looked at Yoshika who was still lying unconscious. "Is she..."

Anna nodded. "Wait."

Yoshika started shaking. The magic was forced in her and her body was rejecting it. However as Yoshika lay there, she saw the apparition again.

_Remember me?_

"What the hell are you doing here again?!"

_I'm you remember?_

"Why do you appear so much now...?"

_Because... It's time..._

"Time for what?"

_Time to meet your destiny. _

The magical aura that had engulfed her before then appeared on the apparition who slowly transformed into a beautiful woman.

_Yoshika... You are one of the Hero's of this era... You will save the world..._

"Who are you?"

_I...I am the Mage of Space._

"Why are you inside my head?"

_I am you, you are me. I apologize for my rashness to you before, but as many before you, you wouldn't listen unless it was "you" telling yourself._

"But why have you not shown yourself before? Why now?"

_Strangely, the magic you were born with was not compatible with mine. _

A silence started between them.

_Now that I am activated... I will work with you until your destiny is complete. Until then... what was the word... 'Yoroshiku onegaishimasu'._

Yoshika giggled a little. It had been a while since she had heard Japanese.

_Now that you know I am only your friend... You should get back to your friends back out there. I have controlled the magic within. Your magic seems unique... That's probably why your body rejected Mio's. None the matter though, it is stable. Now go back to your friends!_

Yoshika opened her eyes to a blue sky.

"Welcome back Yoshika. How do you feel?"

Yoshika sat up and said, "Not much different." She paused. Would Anna know about this 'Mage of Space'? She didn't want to say anything.

She didn't have to.

"Anna, can you confirm that she is the Mage of Space?" one of the hooded people said.

Anna shot a dark look at them. "Always business with you people."

"Anna, we do not have time for this. As of this moment, the other Hero is in enemy hands."

"I understand, but Yoshika needs to know the truth before we do anything."

"But..." they said before Anna shushed them.

"Yoshika... How long has she been talking to you?"

"What do you mean?"

"The Mage of Space. Her name is Caelum."

"Since the day of the attack?" Yoshika remembered having a dream, but she didn't know if that vision of herself was Caelum trying to push her to this path. "Though she showed herself as a vision of me."

"That is normal. However I fear that because she is awakened, that makes Aetas will make his appearance soon." Anna turned to the hooded people. "Do you know who holds Aetas?"

"No Librarian. We do not."

Anna sighed. "Yoshika, you're one of the 2 wizards of this era that will save the world."

"Why?"

"Back in the beginning of human civilization, two people were given the power to change time and space. They were named Aetas and Caelum. The world at the time was under a great evil, this is lost to history, but they gave their lives in the process. By doing so they created the first people who could yield magical powers. However, it is apparent that the evil had resurged multiple times, yet we do not know what actually happened. So, each era Aetas and Caelum appeared in 2 people who had enough power to change the world and vanquish this evil."

Yoshika nodded. "So why are we so worried about Aetas? Isn't it good?"

"_He_ Yoshika. Aetas is a man. It will always be a man holding him. And that's what we don't know. From what I remember, Aetas and Caelum have fought, and some heroes have died because of it."

"So basically, I've been targeted by Guardian because of..."

The hooded people looked up and gasped. "That was Guardian? Yoshika... how did you survive?"

Yoshika and everyone else stared straight at them. "What do you mean?"

"Yoshika... That was one of the Neuroi 5 Generals. He's killed hundreds of MA members."

"WHAT?! How the hell did he get through?!" Mio shouted.

"His magic is based upon reprogramming people. Everyone around Guardian isn't in the right state of mind." They turned to Yoshika. "Yoshika, let us make this clear. What ever you are... You weren't affected."

Yoshika's eyes widened. "Who does his magic affect..."

They pointed their wands at her, ready to fire. Anna looked up and pointed as well. "Anyone... but a Neuroi."

* * *

**AN: Holy shit this chapter was a pain in the ass to write. Theres infodumps everywhere and Im sorry I couldn't space them out. I just wanted to get the background info over with so the plot of this story can start again. Honestly, I dont want to pull another 5k-6k chapter for a long time, so the next chapters will feel a bit shorter, but I want to get this out with regularity, which is something I've been sorely lacking. Also, I've been wanting to involve the 501st more, so they will be added more often as well, except for 2 characters who don't have importance to the plot. YET. I hope you like looking back, because it is mentioned in a dialogue piece before the big battles.**

**On a slightly more positive note, has anyone noticed this story's tone been dropping from a serious to "Holy-Hell-Why-Is-The-Author-Torturing-His-Characters" serious? Its been bugging me, and I want to fix it in the next few chapters.  
**

**On another note, hows everyone liking the story so far? Ive been itching to write alot lately, and I use feedback as motivation(Good or bad). So don't forget to R&R (This note has become shameless review grabbing now) and stuff!  
**


	16. Fallen

Schmidt sat in the room waiting for the rest of the squad he would soon work with to find this "Foxfire". He knew they meant Yoshika, but he wondered how they tracked her that fast.

The door opened to show the other person Eisen had brought in for Zero.

"You have got to be joking me." Schmidt said flatly.

A girl with a Dogknights patch symbol walked in the door. Her red hair shone in the light as Schmidt sighed and leaned back.

"Alice, how come we're always together?" he asked.

"Does it look like I control what the hell they choose?" She grabbed a seat next to him. "So what is this all about? Why are we being called up already?"

"They found her."

Alice's eyes lit up. "Who?"

"Yoshika. But how... That's bugging me."

She stayed silent. Yoshika told her this would happen, but a cold feeling in Alice's stomach was beginning to form.

"Alice... I... I don't think we'll take her alive." Schmidt finally said.

He caught her off guard. "W-What? What the hell do you mean?"

"She's a capture or kill priority right? She won't be caught."

"So are you saying we should kill one of the few people who didn't treat us as soldiers, but as friends?!"

Schmidt stood up. "What?! You've got to be joking me! Yoshika is with the enemy and god knows what they're doing to her right now! I won't take the risk that she kills more of us in trying to protect her life."

Alice looked angrily at Schmidt. "You don't understand..."

He turned. His eyes looked different from before, a slight tinge of red had colored his irises. "What the hell do you mean...?"

Before Alice could say something, Guardian and a few other soldiers entered the room. "Hello Squad Zero. I am Guardian. I'll be the operational head of this mission. I haven't had time to look at the roster, so please state your names please. No ranks. We don't need them. How about we start with you?"

He pointed at Schmidt.

"Oh... I'm Schmidt. Karsland."

Alice then went after him. "I'm Alice Hall. Britannian."

A soldier near the door said, "Raskman. Nathanel Raskman, or Nate. Suomus. " He was of a slight build, not exactly fighting material, but there's been exceptions.

The soldier to the left of Guardian was a wearing a patch with an eagle on it, signifying she was from Liberion. "Rebecca Stonewallace. Liberion." She looked very much like the average Liberion girl, yet there was something off about her to Schmidt, but he couldn't point his finger at it.

The final soldier needed no introduction. He didn't want to be seen earlier, so Schmidt didn't notice Takeshi walk in. "Takeshi Yuuske. Fuso."

Guardian looked around. "You guys don't talk much do you? Oh well."

The door opened and a few girls walked in and went to the radio stations. Guardian sighed. "Eisen wants this operation going ASAP... Here's the quick scenario. Drop in, either get or kill "Foxfire" and get out. Any questions?"

Alice raised her hand. "Why are we attacking "Foxfire"?" She was suspicious that their "leader" was already sending them to attack her. However, she couldn't let on that she knew more than she did.

"That's none of your concern. Eisen wants her dead or alive."

She wanted to say more, but Schmidt stared her down. Alice noticed his eyes had returned to normal, but there was this nagging feeling that he hadn't.

"No more questions? Good. Operation begins at 2200. In the meantime, get to know each other." Guardian got up and left.

The group sat there quietly. No one said anything for a while. Schmidt finally got up the courage to say, "Is this all of us? 5 people?"

Rebecca shook her head, "I don't think Zero is supposed to be a solid team. It seems as if they picked the craftiest people. I'm guessing if the mood suited them, they could scrap us and throw any enemy intelligence off."

Schmidt nodded. He was happy that people other than his group figured R.E.C.O.N. wasn't just for Neuroi, but he couldn't help but feel angry towards Alice, and weirdly, Yoshika.

The guy by the door quietly said, "Is it just me, or is this all tied to that Yoshika girl?"

A tension fell in the room. Schmidt managed to nod in agreement.

"I dunno. It just seems fishy honestly. Also, if Eisen is sending us, then why now? Why not until after we're trained?"

Alice nodded. "I tried to voice that concern earlier, but I had a feeling that I shouldn't speak."

"It's good that you didn't. In an agency like this, Secrets are your weapon. Prodding would lead to suspicion." Takeshi said.

They all nodded. They all understood the gravity of the situation, but it felt unfair to all of them, being forced to fight these political backstage wars.

Alice smiled. "It's like were in some spy novel or something. We're going to this place for one tiny mission-"

"And it all goes to hell." Rebecca finished.

Alice scoffed and started going on a long winded argument about spy novels. Rebecca was happy to counter her argument.

The guys burst out laughing at the 2 girls started arguing over how a spy novel should go.

"But the hero should always have a romantic interest in his partner!"

"But that's so predictable! It should be with a girl he meets on the mission, or even better a target!"

Alice chuckled. "That... That is the stupidest plot twist ever."

"Still better than falling in love with your partner."

Schmidt quipped up, "No it isn't."

Takeshi turned it around and said, "That explains why you've been with Alice so much..."

The laughter became incessant as Schmidt and Alice burned with embarrassment.

"T-That's not it!" Schmidt sputtered.

"Yeah, you've been with him longer!" Alice shrilly shouted out.

That lead to another round of laughter as Schmidt and Takeshi hit their heads on the desk together.

"How cute!" Rebecca said, "They're synchronized!" as their laughter continued on.

* * *

The girls working at the radios kicked the squad out after a little while. They were then stuck for a few hours in the middle of the grounds with nothing to do.

"Okay... this got boring quick." Alice said.

"You'd think putting over 200 teens in 1 area, they'd provide some form of entertainment while off duty." Rebecca said.

Nate sighed. "We could explore around. Though..." He looked up at the rising moon. "I don't think that's the best idea..."

Schmidt noticed a big line coming out of one of the doors to the castle. "Hey, I think I found the mess hall."

"Oh, lets go there!"

The mess hall wasn't any better. It was full of people, most of them shouting and screaming to be heard. Schmidt saw most of the squad leaders trying to stay together with the rest of the squads, but most of the others went back to their friends it seems. It would probably take a battle for these people to open up to their teams. He sighed. They had no idea of what was going to happen tonight.

"Hey... Schmidt right?" Rebecca said.

"Yeah, what is it?"

"You alright? You seem down."

He looked up. Everyone in the group was looking at him. "Ah... I was just looking at everyone."

"That's a bit weird..."

"It's nothing to worry about."

"But-"

Schmidt turned around and scowled. "Its _nothing_ to worry about."

Rebecca backed off. Schmidt never removed his stare. He interested her, he was mysterious, as if he was hiding more than it seemed. However, he was dangerous, she concluded. She never wanted to be on his bad side.

Alice turned to Schmidt, "Schmidt, you worried about the operation?"

"Not especially. I'm more worried about the end. She's out there... and..."

"Who is?" Rebecca asked. "Why are you worried about this "Foxfire"? She's an enemy."

Schmidt sighed.

_Why the hell do you keep butting in?! Seriously..._

"There's some secrets that are left unsaid." Schmidt said finally.

Alice nodded. "Foxfire is someone we knew. That's the only reason we're worried."

Rebecca wanted to ask more but Nate shook his head when her eyes met his.

Schmidt got up from the table. "We should get going." The others nodded and left.

They entered the mission room yet again. This time however, Guardian and Eisen was there. However there was another girl leading the mission.

She spoke, "Hello, I am Warrant Officer Bishop. I will be your communications director for this operation. All information will come from me."

Eisen nodded and started speaking, "Operation Starcatcher is a 3 phase mission. The first part will be flying your troop over occupied Karsland territory."

Alice shouted, "_Karsland?!_ Are you trying to get us killed?!"

Schmidt also raised an objection, "General, are you seriously asking us to fly willingly into enemy territory to get to Romagna?"

Eisen dropped his fist on the table. "Enough. That's an order. I would have had you fly through Gallia if we had the chance. However, that is not possible. That's final."

Guardian then said, "The Romagnan Air Force sent a squad over to escort you. Their striker forces are occupied with a national security issue at the moment."

After a brief silence Eisen continued with the plan. "Phase 2 will involve you finding "Foxfire", and either capturing or eliminating it. We do not know the amount of resistance this will entail, so 2 other Zero squads were prepared for this operation to help out as soon as possible.

"Why didn't we send them too?" Alice asked.

"That's too many squads to protect. The squad they sent us can only protect so much effectively."

Eisen then continued the plan. "Phase 3 is extraction. If things go to plan, you will directly come back here. In the case that it doesn't, you will need to be extracted out of Romagna, which could take some time. Any questions?"

No one said anything. "Good. The plane is waiting."

The plane was a D-47 Skywagon. It was fitted with launchers.

"Have you ever done an in air launch Schmidt?" Alice asked.

He shook his head. He turned his head to Rebecca, who probably had the most training.

"I did have paratrooper training, but with these strikers... It might be a bit hard starting up. On the ground you have more time to speed up, but in the air, you gotta go or you're dropping."

They got into the airplane and it started up quickly. The pilots gave them all parachutes, 'just in case of problems' they said.

"November-Zero-Five-Seven-Niner Delta Mike. Ready for takeoff."

They put on the headsets given to them by Bishop before they left.

"Your squad designation is Alpha Zero. Sgt. Hall is Alpha Zero 1. Sgt. Schmidt is Alpha Zero 2 and wingman. Cpl. Stonewallace is Alpha Zero 3. Sgt. Raskman is Alpha Zero 4. Sgt. Takeshi is Alpha Zero 5. These are your designations for this mission."

A pause.

"November-Zero-Five-Seven-Niner Delta Mike, Clear for take off. Get to cruising speed at altitude 4k and hold. Romagnan Air Support will meet up with you then."

"Roger that Command. Taking off."

The plane cleared the runway and set off.

Nate patted his clothes. "These R.E.C.O.N. uniforms look pretty cool. Better than the grunt uniforms that we had to wear before."

The R.E.C.O.N. uniforms given to them for this mission were describable in one word. Pragmatic. The colors were a faded green, much like the normal combat fatigues given, with a layer of extra padding to allow attachments onto the uniform. Schmidt himself put a few grenades there just in case. They also were given a combat knife, which they stashed in a pouch that was deliberately made to hang on top of strikers. They were also given rifles attached to their front. The rifles were M1 Carbines, but Schmidt was able to pick up a Kar98 from a nearby weapons rack.

However, their helmets warranted special mention, as they were designed for R.E.C.O.N. agents. These helmets were the average M1 Helmet that Liberion issues its army, but the helmets came with special goggles which integrated with the headset to allow a user to be sent relevant information from command as long as they were still in contact. However, these goggles also drained from a users magic source, so they must be connected to the headset using a wire before activating. They still were very useful goggles for normal use.

"Makes you wonder where they got the time to make these." He shifted his goggles on his helmet and leaned on his striker.

"Hey listen up," Alice said, "The pilots are talking."

"Alpha Zero, we need to go over air launch. You are not in your strikers, and therefore you will not launch like land launches. The strikers are on EZ-Loaders, which you put in and then you enter yourself. These specialized launchers will then turn you horizontally and allow you to start up for 5 seconds. After those 5 seconds you will be launched out of the plane. After that, it takes a minute to reset into starting position again." The pilots then started talking to each other for a bit.

"Sorry about that. Romagnan forces are now connected with us and covering our route. Now, in the event of emergency, you are not to launch from these. The forces placed upon both you and the striker will tear you apart. I'll spare the details of how. Other than that, enjoy the ride."

The pilots fell silent as the plane reached cruising speed. Schmidt looked out the window behind him and saw Gallian Air Bases.

_Those weren't there before..._

The plane continued on through Karsland.

"Command, this November-Zero-Five-Seven-Niner Delta Mike. We've reached hostile airspace."

"Acknowledged."

"Romagnan Air Support, did you copy?"

A drawling mans voice came on radio, "Fiore Squad Leader, acknowledged."

"How many are with you?"

"Five planes."

"Roger. All planes, we have a high priority cargo in holding here, so protect us at all costs."

The escort planes flew in a V formation surrounding the plane. The moon was high in the sky and the group silently flew by.

The pilot looked at his radar screen and nudged his co pilot. "You see that?"

"Hmm?" The pilot pointed at the screen. "Hmm... Fiore 1, do you see a bogey at 8 o clock?"

"I don't. Fiore 6 confirm a bogey at 8 o clock."

"There's a bogey at our 8. Not very fast though."

"Keep an eye on that Fiore 6."

"Roger captain."

The pilot radioed base, "Command, we have a bogey at our 8. Unknown speed and make."

Lynne relayed the information to Eisen who was looking over the operation.

"Guardian. Get Beta Zero out now. Take no chances."

"Roger." Guardian ran off.

"Bishop, tell them that we've launched Beta Zero as backup."

"Roger" she said.

The pilots heard this but didn't feel very reassured over it. "We're over an hour ahead. It would take a while before they can-" He stared at the radar screen again. "Fiore 1, bogey at our 6. Coming fast."

"I see it. Fiore 5, Fiore 6 cover them."

"Roger." The two planes detached to intercept the speeding bogey. However, an explosion quickly rattled the sky.

"What the..." Schmidt said.

"Fiore 6 respond. Fiore 6."

"Fiore 6 was shot down!"

"Did any one see what it was?" Sweat started to form on the pilot's brows. "Command, we have an emergency. One of the Romagnan air escorts was shot down."

Schmidt gestured the rest of them to see what was going on outside. A black blur quickly zoomed past their eyesight.

"Damn it, that things fast its about to cross us in 3 – 2-" An explosion rang out. An alarm blared in the cockpit. "Command, damage to Engine 2. Unknown enemy."

"Fiore 5, reform on us, Fiore 2 and 3 cover their wings! Protect that plane!"

The engine had taken a direct blow. It was still running but barely. "Is it the Neuroi?" Alice asked.

Schmidt nodded. Nothing else would have done that much damage so quickly.

"Two more bogeys on our 9! Coming in fast!"

The pilot shouted over the headset, "BRACE FOR IMPACT!"

The group of teens threw themselves onto the floor as two more explosions rang out. One of them hit the plane itself.

"Command, we've taken heavy fire! Our last position is 5 kilometers from KLA-2! Mayday Mayday Mayday!"

"Fiore 2 was lost! Did he eject?"

"We're breaking formation, evasive maneuvers!" the pilot shouted.

The plane banked and dropped altitude to dodge another shot as another plane was shot out of the sky. "Sir, we've lost power to engine 2!"

Schmidt and the others braced for impact as the plane screamed through the sky desperately dodging Neuroi shots. The last maneuver was too much for the plane as it stalled in the sky, leaving it a sitting duck as it fell.

As they fell from the corner or their eye, a small plane zoomed right in front of them as the Neuroi shot hit it and was obliterated. Fiore 1 had flown straight into a shot meant for them. Schmidt called him a hero, but that was saved for only if they survived.

"We're going down!" The pilot shouted. "Everyone inside, BRACE FOR-"

The plane crashed through the trees into the forest.

"November-Zero-Five-Seven-Niner Delta Mike? November-Zero-Five-Seven-Niner Delta Mike?"

Lynne kept on trying to raise the plane as Eisen and Guardian started their contingency plans.

"Guardian. Get on the next plane with Charlie Zero and clean the area."

"Yes sir. Right away." Guardian ran off. Beta Zero squad had launched 20 minutes ago, and would be approaching the area of attack soon.

"Lynne, stop raising them. They're gone. I need a report ASAP about what happened. Get me times and transmissions."

"Yes sir."

Eisen sighed.

_Why did this turn out so hard... _

"We are entering contingency mode. No one leaves this room until we find out what the hell happened. Understood?"

Everyone in the room nodded.

Schmidt awakened in a dream place. It was the same forest they had crashed in, but Schmidt was miraculously unharmed. He was still wearing his uniform, yet it didn't feel like it was weighing him down. He looked around to survey the area.

It was a clearing, but it was bright as day out. The only peculiar thing was that there was a man sitting on a stump drinking tea.

Schmidt slowly walked up to the man, who was wearing blue knightly armor instead of fatigues like he guessed.

"W-Who are you...?" Schmidt asked.

"Ahh... I am Aetas." He smiled as he raised his tea

"Where am I...?"

"In your mind."

Schmidt sat down in the grass. It was quite peaceful for once.

"Your mind isn't always like this Schmidt. Its always fun though. Better than others."

"What do you mean?"

"The occasional monster here is pretty amusing to say the least."

Schmidt stared at him. Here was this random guy who was in his mind, and he was talking about killing monsters.

"Who the hell are you...?"

He dropped his smile. "I'm going to be frank. I'm not from here."

Schmidt looked back at the man, wondering what he meant. "What do you mean 'from here'?"

"You'll see. Time to go now. Any longer and you're dead. Oh and one more thing. You need to move quickly and silently."

"Wait wha-"

Schmidt breathed in fresh air. Flames were crackling all around him and the trees were broken from the crash. As he regained his bearings, a flaming plane roared into view and disappeared in that same instant. The ground shook with an explosion a few seconds later.

_Right... I was in that wreck. How the hell did we survive..._

He was in pain, but he felt he could still move his arms and legs. Schmidt remembered the last piece of advice the man told him and tried to move. His body wouldn't respond. Schmidt lay there for a moment, and waited. He didn't wait long as he heard voices surrounding the crash site.

"Spread out! Look throughout this site and take anything that looks important!"

Who were they... He tried to move his arms again, and they responded to his surprise.

He crawled to a sizable bush and listened to the conversations.

"Sir, why are we here? We're supposed to be in Gallia defending the base."

"Ahh, thats the key word. _Supposed_. As long as we leave before they get here, we won't be suspect of anything."

"But aren't we looking for the cargo they said they were holding?"

"That's not the objective. Fabrique specifically said to extract any important evidence. If we found anyone alive, then capture them. Got it?"

"Yes sir."

The soldier ran off.

_Gallians? Why are they poking around a R.E.C.O.N. site... _

He found the strength to get up and notice a flash of light in a bush a few meters away. It was Alice and Rebecca. They waved him over. However, the bushes were separated by a large gap and moving without a distraction would certainly get him seen. All of a sudden a commotion was heard on the other side of the plane.

"Commander! We found one!" The soldiers quickly ran to check.

Schmidt used the distraction to quickly change covers. He quickly landed next to Alice who was looking to see who they caught.

"Ahh, nice to know you survived. Do you know if Takeshi or Raskman survived?"

Alice shook her head."I don't know what happened to them... Someone was just captured though."

Rebecca pointed at Schmidt. "Theres only about 10 of them. How good are you with that rifle?"

"Are you insane?!" Alice gasped. "We can't kill Gallian soldiers! Not when they have a hostage!"

Schmidt ignored Alice's protests, "I'm decent. What about you?"

"I can hold my own." She grabbed her gun and aimed down the sights.

"Not yet. Wait for them to confirm the capture. That way we don't fire on ourselves."

Rebecca nodded. "Alice can you get to their truck?"

"Yeah."

"Get to it and when we start firing, get our guy out of there."

"Im off then." Alice slinked off into the shadows.

Schmidt moved back to his original bush. "Take the first shot." he said.

They moved their capture to the truck and kept on searching. Schmidt waited for the first shot. It was an agonizing minute until...

"Shit we lost Neurs!" The soldiers ran around trying to take cover.

He took his shot and took out a soldier who was too exposed for his own good.

"There into the bushes! Fire!"

Schmidt slid backwards as the rain of bullets flew around him, but Rebecca was able to get another shot off.

"Where the hell are these people shooting from?!"

A soldier ran up. "The hostage was taken!"

"What?! Fall back and call in the Interceptors! These aren't normal soldiers." The captain motioned for people to fall back.

Schmidt was able to get a good sight on the captain and fired a straight headshot. The soldiers next to him jumped in surprise and were quickly picked off by Rebecca.

"Captain Maurise was killed! All units retreat!"

The soldiers backed off. Schmidt saw them picking up their fallen, and wondered if that's how it was on the ground in those trenches. He didn't fire a shot, and let Rebecca make her choice as well. She didn't fire. Maybe she had the same thought. Maybe it wasn't worth it. He didn't know. In the end though, Schmidt was impressed by this Liberion girl and her skill.

"Schmidt. Good shooting out there." She stuck out her hand.

Schmidt shook it and nodded. "They said something about the "Interceptors". Do you know who those are?"

She shook her head. They turned their heads and saw Alice with Raskman in tow. He was unconscious, but still breathing. Alice pointed out in the distance. "Raskman told me he saw Takeshi get a parachute off."

"Did he say where?" Schmidt asked.

Alice shook her head.

"Spread out. Find him."

They spread out around the grounds looking for him. Raskman was left near the bushes. Schmidt felt his communicator and noticed it had broken.

_Must have broken in the crash... _

Schmidt slowly walked through the forest looking for any signs of Takeshi. He made his way through the brush and found a parachute hanging in the trees. Schmidt looked around further and found broken branches and bullet holes in the trees around him.

Schmidt turned when a noise shook in the brush behind him. He turned pointing his rifle in the face of Alice.

"Watch where you're pointing that thing!"

"Sorry." He put the rifle down.

"We need to get going. Rebecca heard a few jeeps heading towards the crash site."

"We haven't found Takeshi yet. I'm not leaving him behind."

Alice sighed. "Fine, I'll give you five minutes. Your striker is being prepped right now. We oriented the launchers so we could launch upwards instead of sideways."

"Thank you."

She nodded. "I'm not as good of a shot as you, so don't expect us to hold on very long."

"Five minutes is all I need." Schmidt ran off into the wilderness.

Takeshi had gotten a parachute off, so it wasn't impossible to guess where he was. Schmidt climbed a tree to see if he could find a parachute in the treeline. He saw the crash site and noticed a white parachute just a few hundred meters from his location.

_Lucky me. _

He climbed down and started running towards the position. Schmidt started hearing gunshots in the direction of the crash.

_Dammit, hold on Alice! I've almost found him!_

Schmidt ran into an opening in the forest. He looked up and saw the parachute hanging there.

A gun cocked behind him.

"Drop the rifle and turn around with your hands up."

Schmidt slowly put down the rifle and turned around.

He couldn't believe his eyes.

"Takeshi?"

Takeshi put the pistol down. "Schmidt? What the hell is going on? I'm hearing gunshots everywhere."

"No time to explain. Follow me." Schmidt picked up his rifle and ran towards the sounds of fighting. Takeshi followed behind him, however he didn't switch to his rifle. "Why the pistol? You're a sniper aren't you?"

"Right arm's broken.", he said nonchalantly.

Schmidt pointed out the plane and where Alice and Rebecca are holed up. They snuck around the fighting and saw Alice and Rebecca pinned down behind trees. Raskman was awake, but he was holding his arm as well.

"Schmidt get your ass over here!" Alice shouted. She fired a number of shots to give Takeshi and him time to run over.

"The prodigal son returns." Rebecca retorted.

Alice shouted back, "Can we get the hell out of this place?! I smell fuel!" The stench of fuel was filling the air.

The group picked up Raskman and fell back to the shadows of the forest.

Rebecca pointed towards a clearing in the forest. "The strikers are ready for launch; we got lucky that the launchers and the strikers themselves weren't damaged somehow."

A large explosion rocked the area. Schmidt looked up and saw a large flame shooting up into the air. "Raskman, Takeshi, will you guys be alright flying?"

They nodded.

The launchers and strikers came into view.

"Everyone ready?" Rebecca asked. "They are on their side, so you need to reorient yourselves quick or you'll run into a tree. They placed Raskman and Takeshi gingerly on their sides as they placed the strikers on their feet.

Schmidt pressed the button and watched the two as they blasted out the side and shot upwards. Schmidt beckoned the girls to go next. "Ladies first."

"How chivalrous." Alice snarked.

"We don't have time for this right now." he said.

They quickly loaded their strikers and launched away leaving Schmidt the last one on the ground. He grabbed the strikers and looked around to see soldiers running up through the trees.

_Now or never!_

He punched the button and launched towards the trees. The soldiers closest to him were startled by the speeding striker heading straight toward them and ducked. Schmidt pulled up just before hitting the tree and saw the damage at the crash site. Soldiers were scrambling around trying to find cover in fear of a second explosion.

Rebecca started to shout, "Look behind you!" She pointed to the horizon behind him.

Black silhouettes with faint blue trails were flying towards the area.

Schmidt had a feeling who they were. The dreaded Gallian Special Forces.

"Interceptors!"

* * *

**AN: Right next chapter out now. Finals really sucks, but hey, at least I have a summer to do more chapters. I don't really have much to say abou this chapter. More OCs, which I guess is annoying, but hey, its a military fiction story, there's going to be a lot of characters! Obviously, I've taken a liking to the snarkiest new OC: Rebecca, but the other OC: Nate will be more prominently displayed soon! That's really all for this. I'm trying to release faster, but school is more important to me at the moment. Not that you guys aren't, but I'm spending serious cash for college. Sigh... Well thats it for me.**

**Thanks for the reviews! Also keep recommending this story! -Poke  
**


	17. Collision

"Alpha, this is Beta. Please respond."

"Alpha, this is Beta. Please respond."

Beta squad's plane flew overhead as they scanned the crash site for any clues.

One of the members looked up. "Kaido, you see anyone?"

Kaido shook his head. "I got nothing. Wait..."

He looked through the scope. "Hey, Korsky, DuMont, get over here."

They walked over to the side of the plane. "Take a look at that."

He handed them the scope. They saw a launcher out in the open. "Why would a launcher be that far from the crash site?" Korsky asked.

"I have a feeling they flew away. There's a bunch of dead bodies around though. Seems like there was a battle."

DuMont looked out at the horizon. "With Gallian soldiers? Why would they do that..."

Kaido shook his head. "Should we get out there and start looking for them Sergeant? Or are we going to stay here?"

DuMont nodded. "Beta. Launch strikers. Head towards the Rendezvous point specified by Command."

The rest of the people got up and started readying their strikers. The plane lowered its speed and altitude as it flew away from the site. Beta Zero was unique, as all the people in it were from the same squadron, Red Wolf.

"Anderson, wake Gregory and Hall up. We're going."

The two sleeping people were quickly awakened and told of the situation. Gregory sighed, "Dammit, I just fell asleep too."

"No sleeping on the job dumbass." Justin snarked.

"You're one to talk."

"Touche."

They all launched out of the plane and headed South following the border into Romagna. The flight was more boring than anything else, but it was better than being stuck in a plane.

"Start the radio messages again. See if we can get anyone to respond."

They nodded and turned on the radios. Eisen didn't know if the radios would still be working or not, but he still sent them out with radios just in case. The radios played a prerecorded message until it was responded by a signal.

"Anything?" DuMont said.

Korsky shook his head."I'm getting interference. Hold on."

Their headsets then heard the voices crystal clear.

"Interceptors are still chasing us?! Its been about 10 kilometers at this point!"

"Raskman can't keep dodging, hes a sitting duck!"

"Schmidt, do something!"

"Fine!"

DuMont shouted to the others, "Where is that signal coming from?!"

"Damn it. Lost the signal."

Justin said, "They have to be close. There's no way they would broadcast that clearly if they weren't that close."

Everyone nodded. "Keep flying, but listen for any gunshots or striker noises. That will tell us where they are."

They didn't have to fly far to find the battle taking place. Streaks of blue filled the morning sky, with black and white strikers fighting about. Korsky called in, "Command, this is Beta. We've found them. They are in heavy battle with unknown bogeys."

"Beta, go in and cover them. The operation is not over. I repeat, the operation is not over. We are to keep going."

"Roger."

DuMont shouted at the rest of them, "You heard them, get moving!"

* * *

Schmidt dodged a barrage from the interceptor tailing him. The Interceptors had helmets and suits which covered their body shape and prevented anyone from knowing who they actually were. Their radios were cutting in and out now, so they had some form of communication. "Alice, get him off me!"

Alice flew by and forced the Interceptor to fall back. Raskmann and Takashi hadn't been heard from this whole time. Schmidt flew by Rebecca who was covering their movements. "Schmidt, what the hell are you doing?! Get moving!"

"At this rate they'll take us down! We've been fighting for too long!"

Rebecca fired a few shots. "Well we sure as hell can't do anything now." She fired her gun again. "Damn. I'm out. You got a mag?"

Schmidt nodded. "I haven't had a mag since we launched."

Alice hovered next to them. "They're regrouping for another run. I'm out of bullets, and we're down two people."

"They just don't stop..." Schmidt sighed.

"Well. One of us needs to stop them." Rebecca said.

They looked at each other. It was obvious to everyone who would stay though. "I'll stay. It wouldn't be right otherwise."

The girls nodded. "Schmidt! Don't die on us, you hear?!" Alice shouted as she flew away.

_Those girls just left you didn't they?_, Aetas said.

_Well would you rather I left them?!_

_I guess not. Yo, focus on them. _

Schmidt looked up and saw 2 Interceptor groups flying straight at him. His body froze.

_Son of a... Of all the goddamn times..._

_Why the hell are you just sitting there?!_

_Does it look like I'm doing this on purpose?!_

Schmidt created his gun and started firing on the squads. Both squads returned fire. His armored uniform slowly started getting more nicks from sustained fire. Suddenly both squads converged and charged at him.

_Are you really going to die here?!_

He stared at the large group charging at him and said, "No."

_Ahh... Then let me help!_

Schmidt's weapon started to vibrate and turn into a sword. He looked at it pulsating with power and looked back at the group. He smirked.

_You're gonna kill us all._

_You'll die if you just sit here._

_Sigh... Fine._

Schmidt flew into the group and felt time starting to slow down. He saw each bullet flying at his face and slowly dodged each one of them as he charged straight at them. As he went behind them, the slowness disappeared. The interceptors quickly stopped and wondered where he went.

_Aetas... What did you do?_

"_Do you really have the time for this?"_

_Nope._

Schmidt charged at the interceptors with the sword and pulsed his magic into it. As he did, time slowed down yet again and he fired a spell right at the group as he teleported back in front of them. As he did, the spell hit most of them and sent them falling from the sky. With his new found power he quickly did away with the rest of the interceptors who retreated back to Gallia.

"Schmidt!" a voice called out.

He turned to see his old squad zooming towards him.

"What was that?! That was amazing!" Hall said.

"Oh this? Something I learned from a friend."

"But you were teleporting and stuff. That's some high level magic."

To them it seemed like teleporting. The truth was that he was moving faster than their eyes could see. He knew that, but he kept that to himself and smiled.

DuMont cut the reunion short and gave Schmidt a paper. "This is for when we find you alive."

_ Schmidt -_

_If you're still alive, Firefox will have had sent her Gallian contacts to fend you off. Kill any that stand in your way._

_ -Agent Guardian_

Schmidt crumpled up the piece of paper and ripped it apart.

_Bit late for that..._

He looked at DuMont and said, "The rest are at our first rendezvous point. We have two injured. When we get there, we're heading straight out. I need you to use your radio to radio the location of our injured.

DuMont nodded. They flew off.

* * *

"_Im a Neuroi?!_" Yoshika said.

The others nodded, they moved in and restrained her. It wasn't necessary, but Yoshika understood their caution. Mio and Minna stood there dumbfounded.

"Sorry Yoshika..." Anna said quietly, "We can't have you going rampant without knowing what is going on."

Yoshika nodded. "Okay, what do you want?"

The first mage nodded. "How long have you been in contact with Guardian?"

How long had it been? The leaves were already falling from the trees, so it was around October, but she never really knew. She came in June, that she was certain of.

"Around five months."

"Did Guardian do anything to try and get you to his side?"

"He used his form when I was with the 501st in Britannia to lure me into the hives."

The mages looked at each other. Mio and Minna looked in amazement as well.

"How...?"

"He took the form the Neuroi girl."

Anna unlocked the shackles holding her. The mages shouted at her to put it back. "Enough. Yoshika gave you more than you need to know." She turned to Yoshika. "They don't understand the Neuroi girl. Forgive them, they are new. However I know that story, and that is proof enough of your innocence."

Yoshika was confused. "How?"

"The Neuroi Girl is the bane of the MA at the moment. She takes people who have certain abilities, which we now know are of Neuroi heritage. As of now, the Neuroi girl has taken 452 of our members. We haven't found anyone. One of them... was your father."

"Ahh..." Yoshika said. She guessed that everyone was worried about her reaction to that. "Well then. Now that that's done, what's next for me?"

Anna nodded, "Well you can't go back. So how about working for the MA? With your magic, you'd probably be returned to active military duty, but that wouldn't be a problem right?"

"Well..."

Minna shook her head. "Any faction that would accept her would be considered going to war with the Allied Forces. You'd have R.E.C.O.N. fighting you everywhere you go until Guardian is removed from power."

Anna nodded. "However, do you really believe that R.E.C.O.N. could seriously take her out?"

Minna shook her head. "That's not what I'm worried about. It's the collateral damage."

"Now you worry about collateral..." Yoshika muttered.

"She said she was sorry dammit!" Mio barked.

"Ahh..." Anna said. "That is to be expected. But I should not be making the decision. Yoshika, what do you want to do?"

_Me? What can I do?_

Yoshika thought hard for a moment. "I need time. This is a very tough decision."

"Have all the time you need. But remember the sacrifices made to bring you here. Let us go inside and have some lunch." Anna brought the others inside.

"_Yoshika" Caelum called._

_What?_

"_I don't want to pressure you, but I can feel Aetas coming closer."_

_How? I thought he hasn't been found yet. _

"_Did you forget we are connected? Aetas can sense me as well."_

_Are you serious?! Why didn't you tell me earlier?! _

"_I didn't sense him until now. He must have awoken recently."_

_So I don't have time to make this choice, now do I?_

"_By all means take your time, but I think it's going to be made for you."_

_As it always seems to be. _

"_Fate works in mysterious ways. Its best to take its flow and use it to your advantage."_

Air raid sirens went off around the area. Yoshika looked up at the sky and saw a group of black dots heading towards them.

_How close is he?_

_You're already looking at him._

"Yoshika, here!" Anna threw a broom at Yoshika. Yoshika sighed as she remembered the embarassing situations she was put in with this thing, but she didn't have a choice at this moment.

"Anna, we need to fall back!"

"Theres no time! Fight them as they are!"

The group of hooded mages ran out and started flying on their brooms as well. "Miyafuji support The Librarian! We'll handle the main crowd!"

"Yoshika, stay near me and watch the hooded mages."

The hooded mages flew out and created a massive seal, which had the five elements of nature spinning around. The spinning grew faster and faster until a massive beam fired straight at them. It split into smaller rainbow colored beams which trapped the intruders inside the cage. The hooded mages closed in to eliminate the intruders when suddenly they were ambushed by a speeding dot.

"What the..." one said as he was knocked off course.

"Swords out! The seal will last for a little while!"

Again the speeding dot took out another, but was stopped by the others. Yoshika couldn't believe her eyes.

"Schmidt?!"

"_Yoshika, that is not Schmidt. That is Aetas taking your friend over."_

Anna turned to Yoshika and said, "We need to help them! Follow close and get ready to use your magic."

_Caelum, why am I not being taken over?_

"_It is not my belief that I will fight better by taking over a person's body. That and I have to constantly temper your Neuroi side from attacking me would make me a liability."_

_So Aetas just takes him over for power?!_

"_Unfortunately, that is how it is."_

Anna flew close and chanted a few words as an explosion rang out. The people inside the sphere were knocked back. Yoshika came in and conjured up a gun to fire at Schmidt/Aetas if he appeared. Yoshika soon felt a disturbance behind her and turned to see Schmidt's fist coming straight at her. She braced herself as an inhuman force knocked her off her broom into the air.

"Schmidt, why are you doing this!" Yoshika screamed as she frantically searched for her broom.

"_You must fight. He will not stop until he kills you!_

_But... _

"_Friend or not, you need to fufill your destiny no matter what!_"

_I can't hurt a friend..._

Seconds pass as she fell through the sky. Schmidt/Aetas starts turning around for a final attack. She was helpless to do anything. Suddenly a voice appeared in her head.

"_Yoshika, let me free!"_

Yoshika saw the voice take form. It turned into herself... yet it wasn't. Her body was unmistakably human, but the Head and arms were different; more Neuroi-like. She saw herself in that aberration, but feared it. But even she knew who it was.

"_Hello Yoshika... I am your Neuroi-self._

* * *

**AN: Short chapter, but I didn't want to drag this one out a bit. This is just a set up for the action to come in the next chapters. I've had some major writers block, and now I think I can pull some chapters going into the latter bits of summer, but I have no idea whats gonna happen over the weeks. Ill cut this short now, because I really want to start writing a chapter. Yadda, Yadda Review and Recommend, Thanks.  
**

**-Poke**


	18. A Lead

_Why in the world should I let YOU out?_

"_Because I'm your only chance of getting out alive. You're in no shape to fight." , _her Neuroi self said pointedly.

_I can fight still! I have magic now!_

Caelum shook her head. _"That magic is still moving throughout your system. The ritual they used was started by the people in my day. It's a very long process and takes time. You're running on fumes."_

_But how does 'she' know this?_

"_The magic your Neuroi-self has feels its pressure. I'll explain when we're safe, but you need to let her take over."_

_Will I be able to change back?_

The Neuroi shrugged her shoulders. "_Your guess is good as mine. I'm you remember?"_

_Ugh... Fine._

"_And by the way, I hope you'll like your new look after I'm done."_

_WHAT?!_

* * *

Schmidt tracked her falling down. Yoshika's eyes were closed and the other mages were flying to save her.

_Aetas... Holy shit man._

"_What? She was just sitting there like an idiot."_

_We weren't supposed to kill her!_

_From what I remember, it was "dead or alive"._

Schmidt shook his head. His team was down three people because of the crash landing, but Alice and Rebecca were able to come. However, he did not expect them all to get caught in a cage. He was lucky as Aetas took over just before the spell hit, but only barely. He flew over to them during the small break in the battle.

"Well, you took her out quickly." Gregory snarked. "I'm surprised you hit her so hard."

"Will hit a girl huh?" Alice said coldly.

"Oi, why the hell are you getting pissed at me for doing my damn job?"

Rebecca looked behind him and said, "Uhh Schmidt. Behind you."

Schmidt turned around to see a bright seal create a towering light in the sky. "What the..." He looked down and saw the mages scrambling to escape the light.

He then saw something he thought he would never see. Yoshika was rocketing towards him at an unhuman speed and was throwing spells everywhere.

"She's gone rampant!" Schmidt shouted. One of the spells shattered the cage imprisoning his squad. He pointed her out to them, "Take her out now!"

"Are you insane?!" Bates shouted, "Shes barely visible to us!"

"Our mission is to get her, and we're not failing that now!" Schmidt roared. He started firing at her.

"Dammit Schmidt, I hope you know what you're doing!" Bates flew to a higher altitude to fire on her. The rest of them started flying out to take her down.

Schmidt tried to keep an eye on her, but she was moving too fast for him to see. She slowed down and fired even more spells at the stationary group who barely dodged them.

DuMont shouted on the radio, "These aren't regular spells!"

Gregory agreed and added, "They look familiar... Too familiar..."

"No way..." Alice said. "It couldn't be..."

"What?" Schmidt asked.

Justin finished her thought. "Neuroi."

"How the hell did she manage that?!" Bates shouted.

As he said that Yoshika fired a second barrage at the group. Like the first one, it was barely dodgeable.

"Ah damn it." Gregory said. "Strikers hit."

"Fall back to rendezvous point. Don't stay longer than you need to."

"Roger." Schmidt turned around to check on him. He saw Gregory nursing his arm... or what was left of it. Schmidt didn't say anything. It would break the morale of his group if they knew how much power those shots had.

"Move up and try to surround her! Don't let her get another barrage out!"

"Roger!"

They tried to fly next to her to prevent her from firing. Schmidt soon knew this was a bad idea. "Fall back, Fall back! Shes firing another spell!" Yoshika fired a powerful beam into the group which lit the sky around them and created plasma in the air.

She sped to DuMont in the confusion and started combating him in mêlée. "What the hell?!" he said.

"What?"

"She's not using a striker!"

DuMont clearly was not expecting an attack at close range and was quickly knocked out by Yoshika.

Schmidt started barking out orders."Bates! Get him outta here! The rest of you fall back! Kaido, Anderson supporting fire on her! We need everyone else to fall back!"

A piercing scream tore through the sky as Schmidt saw Yoshika rush at Rebecca. Rebecca fluidly dodged the rush and fired her weapons into her. Yoshika fell from the sky.

"I... I got her..."

Schmidt was in disbelief. There was no way she could was taken down that easily. He was proven right when Yoshika quickly zoomed up from below and took out Rebecca in one hit. Schmidt had lost 3 members in less than 10 minutes of fighting her.

He turned to his group. "I'm making a final order here. Retreat at all costs. I'll cover the rear."

"Schmidt..." Alice said slowly. She paused for a moment before saying, "Be safe."

"I will."

The strikers retreated back while Schmidt flew out protecting their rear. Yoshika was content in letting the rest go, but she didn't let Schmidt leave without a fight. Yoshika flew close and stopped Schmidt in the air. They were around 20 meters away, but Schmidt saw her clear as day. She was unmistakably human, but had Neuroi features all over her body. Yoshika sported the red and black hexagons around her body like in Neuroi fighters and the like, but what drew Schmidt was her eyes. Her eyes had been a brown color before then, but now they were a deep and glowing red. Her head was also different; she had dog ears sticking out of her head, complete with a tail. Schmidt wondered if she had a core in this state instead.

"_Shall I help you?"_

_Please._

"_Hmm, she'll be harder to punch."_

_Is that all you think about?_

"_I have other things I think about, but you're much too young for that subject."_

… _Just get us through this._

Aetas laughed. _"For you, anything."_

Schmidt rushed her and slowed down time as he reached her so he could knock her off-balance. Yoshika grabbed him through his zone.

"Do... you really... think... THAT WOULD WORK?!" She screamed.

"Well, I was hoping it would... But this will!" Schmidt pointed his striker exhaust at her body and pulsed a large amount of magic through them. The pulse translated into a force large enough to cause Yoshika to release her grip on him.

She charged at Schmidt like she did to the others, but he was ready and quickly conjured up Aetas' sword. She parried his blow with her armored skin and kept on the attack. Aetas quickly threw a spell out to keep her back as Schmidt tried to take advantage of her momentary distraction.

"Take this!" He slashed his sword as he saw time warp in the zone he sliced through. Anything caught would be dismembered instantly. Yoshika flew back and threw spells at Schmidt who kept charging. His charge would be stopped by a combo of a spell and Yoshika using its brightness to blindside him, Schmidt was left out of breath for a minute.

"Ugh... Good one."

Behind that hard exterior, Schmidt thought he saw a smirk.

_She's still human._

"_Yeah, I don't think we're going to win at this rate."_

_Why's that?_

"_You're not trying."_

_What? I'm gonna die if I wasn't!_

"_If you really were trying, then you would have slashed the moment she charged you."_

Schmidt remembered that moment and sighed. _Fine. You got that one. _

As Schmidt processed the events, he heard a large amount of strikers flying behind him. Yoshika fell back and threw a barrage at the strikers behind Schmidt. He turned around and saw half of R.E.C.O.N. supporting him.

"Schmidt!" one of them shouted, "The cavalry's here!"

"Charrrrrrgggeeeeeeee!"

"_Oh my... This is your goddamn **special forces?!**"_

_Well, they've proven they're special in one way._

As Aetas was dying of laughter, the rest of the strikers charged forward at Yoshika who was flying around at her unusually high speed. She was flying as if she had a striker; flowing and deliberate. Her spells weren't being thrown as much, but she was slippery for the larger force to surround.

"So that's the expertise of the 501st." he mused. Schmidt watched as she deliberately flew into the inexperienced R.E.C.O.N. recruits and easily dodged their spells. Yoshika was fighting less and more toying with the large force.

_I have a bad feeling about this. _

"_Well, you aren't the only one. Look at the bunch spreading out."_

Aetas was pointing out the group of R.E.C.O.N. agents backing off and letting Yoshika fly into the main group. They looked uneasy as the main group got closer and closer to the field with the mages.

"_I don't think I need to point out what's going to happen."_

_She's going to get away isn't she. Shouldn't we do something?_

"_I'd just watch the show."_

Schmidt didn't need to wait long before Yoshika ripped through the group straight towards the field. As she zoomed towards the mages, Schmidt saw a shield form around the open field. The main group took the bait and started rushing the open shield.

_Shows starting?_

"_Yep."_

The group started piling near the shield hole and filed their way in. The second group was zooming in, apparently trying to tell their comrades something, but Schmidt's radio couldn't pick it up. Suddenly, the secondary group scattered as the shield started cracking.

_Shit._

"_Well that's one way to describe the situation."_

The shield exploded.

The strikers closest to the shield dropped like flies. The strikers further back quickly regrouped and rushed the now open field. They quickly realized that was going to be a bad decision. The field was defended by 5 elite battle hardened mages rather than shaken recruits who had barely passed one battle.

Those 5 mages alone were able to stop their rush before they even started by caging them all in.

Schmidt then saw Yoshika land on the field behind the mages and slowly lost the glow in her eyes. She fainted right there. He watched as a portal opened in the area and the 5 mages quickly brought her through. The cage holding the rest of the agents broke the instant they left.

_Show's over._

"_Thanks Captain Obvious."_

An Assault Mage flew over to Schmidt and asked for his identification. Schmidt showed him his dog tags. The mage nodded and called on his radio.

"Command, this is Gamma squad. We have Schmidt. Firefox was protected by an elite unknown force. Trapped 4 whole squads and probably heavily injured 3 more. Need backup ASAP."

He received the reply and relayed it to Schmidt.

"RTB immediately for Debrief."

"Alright, but I have no idea how to explain what just happened."

"I don't think anyone will."

Schmidt turned to see the carnage. The strikers that fell weren't visibly hurt, but they were too hard for him to really tell in detail. "How badly hurt do you think they are?"

"They rushed an obvious trap and got hit by magical shrapnel. What do you think."

"What the hell were they thinking?" Schmidt asked incredulously.

"We're only teenagers."

"Right..." Schmidt forgot about that. He had been a soldier for so long he had forgotten he was talking about teenagers. "I guess we all make mistakes."

The other mage nodded. "I just wish they weren't life or death mistakes."

"Yeah..."

After a short break in the conversation Schmidt finally said, "I'll head back to the Rendezvous point then." and flew off. Schmidt flew back without any incidents happening during the trip.

He landed and found his group sitting near a large plane being loaded with their strikers.

"Good thing you missed what happened next." Schmidt said sarcastically.

"Well Yoshika cut you off, so I'm going to guess you fought." DuMont said as-a-matter-of-factly.

"You were awake through that?"

"No, Alice told me."

"Dammit Alice."

Alice looked up at him and said, "Hey, they were worried about why you didn't come with them. I just gave them the truth."

Schmidt let the matter go. She was right.

"How's Gregory?"

Bates came out the other side of the plane. "He's in emergency surgery."

"Emergency?" Schmidt said cautiously.

"Emergency enough to try to save his arm."

"Guess that leaves him out of action for months." he sighed. "Well how about Rebecca?"

Bates tried to remember what happened to her. "Shes up, but I think they took her in for observation. Yoshika could have broken her neck from the looks of it."

"More likely that Yoshika just knocked her out." a voice said quietly.

"Takashi?" Bates said. "How are you still here? Shouldn't you have been transported back with the rest of the injured?"

"Ahh its nothing. I'm not going to waste space on a plane when I'm still mobile and conscious."

"But what are you going to do here," Schmidt said, "Not like there's anything interesting."

"Not really. But Adagio radioed in and said that he's part of the clean up crew back at the crash site. It doesn't look good."

"What do you mean?"

Takashi looked around. "Schmidt, come with me." The rest of the group looked at him as if he was withholding some important information.

Schmidt got up and started walking with Takashi. "So what is it?"

Takashi sighed. "I just over heard this over the radio but Adagio found out those soldiers aren't regular Gallian soldiers. It seems like they were specially sent out by Fabrique."

"I guessed that when they immediately came to kill us instead of trying to save us."

He shook his head. "No that's not the point. There's a major disconnect in the Gallian armed forces."

"He got that from just looking around the crash site?" Schmidt was impressed at Adagio's deduction skills.

"Again, no. The disconnect comes from the fact that the radio monitors at the nearest base to your crash site mentioned nothing. Basically, it was a black ops on black ops situation."

"So you're saying that..." He had an idea where Takashi was taking this.

"Yes. Fabrique had wind of the operation, and he didn't like it."

"That would explain the note I got from Guardian."

"What did it say?"

"Something about contacts and Gallia. I didn't really care at that point." Schmidt stopped and saw they were at the edge of the forest. "Should we head back?"

"Well there's one more thing..."

Schmidt sighed and said, "Well out with it."

"Gallia's siding with the Neuroi."

* * *

The portal opened up at the gates of the MA. The MA was situated deep in Neuroi territory which meant that it was protected from random attacks, unlike on the borders. The gates of the MA were built like castle gates, signifying its historic heritage of days past. Anna opened the walls of the MA and brought the group inside. Mio and Minna gasped in wonder at the building.

"This is the MA?" Minna asked.

Anna nodded. "Close, but it's still another portal away. Its nothing like the one we had to set up back in Romagna though. Just a small one to throw off followers."

Anna lead them down a small tunnel going through the walls of the gate. It was cleverly hidden; behind some fallen rocks and debris, the only way to tell it was an entrance was by moving a few rocks that covered a trapdoor into the walls.

They walked until the end of the path where there was a dark door behind it. "Ahh. It's here. Give me Yoshika. The rest of you, cover the rear." The 5 mages handed over Yoshika to Anna and turned to the dark closed door. She pressed her palm into the door which revealed a small seal. She opened the door to reveal a portal. "It's just a closet if I didn't do that if you're wondering." she said to Mio and Minna. "Now go in first, they're expecting you."

The portal brought them to their destination. "Welcome to the MA Headquarters." Anna said. "Lots to see, you'll get a grand tour later, we need to head to the Council immediately though."

Anna rushed over from the entrance to a building in the middle of the area. It wasn't grand like a castle, but it was bigger than the other buildings in the area. It had a dome like shape, covered in brown roof tilings from top to bottom. One could think this was the top of an underground building. The streets around it were packed with people, most of them trying to get to their destinations, but some were taking places around the road to sell certain magical items. It was a sort of wizarding town that people had read in books and tales.

Yoshika started to wake as they reached the gates of the building. 2 guards who wore white armor were blocking the entrance.

"State your business."

Anna nodded and said, "Librarian Ferrara here on emergency Council duties pursuant to the Order 2503."

"Who are the passengers save for the Knights?"

"The packages."

They nodded and let the group through. Yoshika finally awoke at the doors of the building. "Where are we?"

"The MA, Yoshika."

"Oh." she said sleepily. Anna kneeled down a little to let her stand up.

Anna opened the doors into the building and revealed to Yoshika what must have been some of the most beautiful archtecture seen in her life. The building was supported much like a Cathedral in Britannia, but the supports were lined with shiny gold. The building was also very bright, with windows filling in every inch of the roof of the place. The dome itself was built with 3 stories. At the bottom floor were desks and chairs surrounding a sort of throne, or what looked to be a circular throne. She counted about 5 chairs in the middle portion. At the upper portion, the same could be said as well, but they were less grand than the ground floor, but they fit more people all the same. At the top, Yoshika saw what could be the spectator seats which people could watch the business of the Council unfold.

"The Council will convene soon. Take your seats at the top. Oh and a quick lesson on how business goes here. The ground floor is where the party in power sits. The party in power is called the Primera, while on the upper floor is the parties of lesser powers, or the Diaspora. Don't think too much on the hidden meanings, it's just what they are called. I'd explain more, but I have some pressing matters to attend to." Anna left them to take their seats. "Oh I forgot to say, the business is dreadfully boring, so I won't blame you if you 'tune out'." she called out as she left.

Yoshika nodded and took her seats with Mio and Minna. They took the opportunity to fall asleep as soon as they sat down.

The Council members started filing in and sitting at their seats. The middle still was empty though, even when the Council members and the spectators all took their seats.

Yoshika noticed the presence of someone sitting next to her. It was an old man who seemed to have experience with the council, possibly been in it before. He turned to her and smiled. "Hello young lady, are you new here?"

She nodded. "I'm here because of a friend."

The man closed his eyes and nodded. "Ahh... Then is this friend part of the Council?"

"I don't know."

"Oh. In lieu of your friends absence, may I explain what happens during the council meetings? It's always nice to see young people taking an interest here."

Yoshika was interested in the meeting, but she had no context of how everything worked. Anna told them so much in such a little time, there was no way she could understand everything that would happen. She also wanted to just forget about the previous battle. This offered a rare opportunity to just relax. "Well, I suppose that would nice." she said.

"Very well. First of all, the Council itself sits and waits for the presenting of the leaders of the MA, the Grand Wizard Council. Attendance isn't mandatory for them, as they were elected on their ability to do what's right for the MA, not the ability to lead a bureaucracy. However, the regular council members are required to attend."

"So why are they required?"

"They represent their group of people's ideals and demands. Anyone can create a party, but to get represented on the council, you need to have the grace of the Grand Wizards. And even then, it's not up to them. It's up to the people who are affiliated with the MA."

"So it's a parliamentary type deal? Or is it more Representative?"

"You'll see. The main thing you should know is the parties. The Primera right now is Carta Lux, or Book of Light. The Diaspora is a mix of 4 other parties: Obscura Imperium, Hands of Divinity, Aetas Aegis, and Oculus Caelum. Each one has a certain philosophy in running the MA."

"Huh. Lots of Latin mixed in there. Why is one called Hands of Divinity?"

The old man chuckled. "Ahh those people are young. They are the most non traditional of the group, they aim for a future that allows magic to be in the open. They think that this is a gift of god, and it should be shared. They're about 20 years old, which is a newborn compared to the other 4. I'm guessing your friend might not know they exist."

"How would you know?" Yoshika narrowed her eyes. The old man noticed her suspicions.

"Young lady, please calm down. I only suggested this because I've been here for many years. Only 1 Grand Wizard member has not shown up in at least 20 years since the civil war."

"What do you mean civil war..."

"Well 20 years ago, there were 3 more parties than now. However, those 3 parties were more... extreme. Carta Lux was a weak party at the time." The old man turned his head to her. "Do you want to listen to this however? It's not really pertinent to what's happening now though."

"My friend did say these would be boring." Yoshika said quietly. The Council still hadn't started yet, as most members were just idly talking. "It might be nice to learn about some history while I'm here."

The old man nodded. "History is interesting. Sometimes you learn more from it than you expect. About 20 years ago, Carta Lux was an extremely weak party at the time because people were reeling from the losses of the First Neuroi War. No one wanted to listen to people who wanted to use knowledge when it was force and action that was needed. And as history goes for Humans, during times of strife, extremism can come from the places you least expect it."

The old man took a breath and continued. "Well during the next Council elections, 3 parties appeared out of nowhere. These parties were called Casus, Dei Punitus, and Oculus Veritas. Obviously they were all voted into the Council. Carta Lux some how was kicked off the Council, even with enough votes to keep them in. After the election the 3 new parties formed a new coalition, Cupitor Casus Veritas or in normal language: Seekers of Fate and Truth."

"I still don't see how these parties were so extreme."

"They were extreme because they advocated a completely militaristic MA. Casus and Dei Punitus believed that Humans were the cause of all their problems, while Oculus Veritas believed that people with magic are the next evolutionary step of humanity. Either way, it meant that Humans had to go." The old man shook his head at this. "Coincidentally, there were parties in the Human side advocating this. Silly things these people believed. None of it based on science or fact, it just preyed on raw emotion."

Yoshika tried to remember the history lessons taught in Fuso. "I don't remember that many parties being that extreme in my country."

The old man took a long look at her. "Fuso Empire right?" Yoshika nodded. "Ahh, thought so. I've seen many of them here. Some of them became famous in the human world. But..." he hesitated to tell her something.

"But what?" Yoshika asked curiously.

"Fuso was one of the countries who has one of these types of parties in power. You were born under a regime that was based on those ideals."

The old man quickly switched back to avoid the awkward silence.

"Cupitor Casus Veritas or CCV with all their votes put together were able to steal Primera status from the party in power: Aegis Aetas. The coalition had some support at first, not much but enough. Things went south after Carta Lux was eventually removed from the Record books a few months into their reign. Soon enough, Aetas Aegis started having members "defect" to CCV. This added to the increasing tensions between people on how the MA was supposed to be run. CCV was running a heavily militaristic empirical stance, which was welcomed, but people were still wary. One could say once Carta Lux and Aetas Aegis started voicing concerns, the public opinion turned against CCV. In response CCV suspended elections and started cracking down on dissent. The Diaspora was dissolved. Carta Lux and Aetas Aegis were on the brink of breaking up from the MA. However, even with all that happening, the MA still had order. Until a certain event of course. The sinking of Titanic."

"How... How does that fit in?!" Yoshika was fully immersed in the story.

"The Liberion's have different ways of running their MA branch, and a bunch of Carta Lux and Aetas Aegis officials from our Branch were headed there to voice their concerns to party officials there. However, the ship sank. Officially it was due to an Iceberg. But looking at the reports, it seemed as if the other ships, which were captained by MA agents, deliberately did not come to their aid. This revelation caused Carta Lux and Aetas Aegis to defect from this MA Branch. CCV declared them traitors and declared formal war against them. Carta Lux and Aetas Aegis responded in kind. The war was brutal, our branch had lost many good witches and wizards. Other branches started sending their officials to keep order."

Yoshika interrupted the old man with a question. "What's this branch you keep talking about? I thought this was MA headquarters?"

The old man didn't miss a step and said, "Ah, this is the Eurasian Headquarters. There's 2 other headquarters established, the Liberion and the African ones. Everyone runs differently, so what happens here usually doesn't affect the others. Usually. The civil war here was leaking into the other ones, so they quickly squashed it and sent their officials in to stop the madness."

The old man continued with the story. "CCV was having problems on the homefront as well. With the Diaspora gone, the CCV had destroyed the little trust the people had for them and that lead to their downfall. The people ended the civil war faster than any military action would. They stormed CCV headquarters and overthrew them from power. The representatives voluntarily gave up their positions and "disappeared". Carta Lux and Aetas Aegis soon returned to the Council."

"But how does this affect my friend?"

"Your friend Anna?" He thought for a minute. "Oh, she was the 2nd in command of CCV at the time."

Yoshika's eyebrows raised at how he knew who her friend was. "How did you know?"

The old man sighed. "Knowing Anna, she's deliberate about her actions. She doesn't do things on a whim, which means she brought something of critical importance. Anna isn't a bad person, even if her actions might reflect a bad past."

"She's really an interesting person. I didn't even know she had a past like that."

"It's not something to be proud of. I'm not surprised she didn't reveal it to anyone. But that exile defines her. I think there's a lot of reasons you're here right now. But..." He started laughing. "God knows you're probably like her when she was young. She can't help but try to nurture that."

Yoshika couldn't help but wear a small smile on her face.

"How do you know her so well?"

"Well I was-" The old man stopped as the Council members started sitting down.

An official voice rang through the dome. "We will begin the Roll Call now."

"Here comes my least favorite part. Roll Call." He rolled his eyes.

Roll Call was boring, it took around thirty minutes to get through the Primera, let alone the Diaspora. After an hour and thirty minutes of the Diaspora, trumpets sounded as everyone got up.

The old man pointed to the golden doors on the back side of the dome. "That's where the Grand Wizards convene privately. They have a meeting before the actual meeting so they can get informed on the issues at hand, and maybe create some decrees too."

The Grand Wizards left the room gracefully and with confidence. Yoshika saw Anna in the group of five coming out. She was much older than the rest of them, which had to be pointed out. "Why is Anna so much older than the rest of them?"

"Anna is a Librarian, and the fact remains that she's still a useful member, even in exile. Her info on the Neuroi War allows the MA to work accordingly, and she has pull in meetings, despite her status as a redeeming person. Whenever she's up for a vote, the Council decides to remove her from the ballot every time to prevent issues. Most people are okay with this because she hasn't caused problems yet."

The Grand Wizards entered the middle part and sat down. The rest of the audience sat down as well.

A voice booms throughout the dome. "The Grand Wizard McDowell is presiding. The business as of today: Granting citizen status to a refugee."

Anna quickly replied, "Shes not a refugee."

The Dome quickly went into chaos. Most of them were not expecting Anna to return. "SILENCE." another voice boomed.

Grand Wizard McDowell spoke, "We are here as an emergency because she is in grave danger by the feared Neuroi General Guardian. From the Librarian she is combat ready and is able to return to duty within a few weeks time."

A voice in the Primera floor called out, "Why is this person so important?"

Grand Wizard McDowell replied, "She is the Mage of Space."

A gasp filled the dome. Yoshika shrank in her seat. The old man chuckled. "Ahh. So it must be you. Well, welcome to the MA. "

Anna waited until the dome was quiet. "So, are we settled to vote? Let us begin."

The people called out their votes as time wore down. Yoshika heard way more "Yes" than "Nays" so she knew she was safe, but what interested her was the roll call.

"From the vote, there are 389 Yes and 111 Nays, the vote will be closed here. The 389 Yes are 200 from the Primera, 75 from Aetas Aegis, 89 from Oculus Caelum, 10 from Obscura Imperium, and 15 from Hands of Divinity. The Nays come 50 from Obscura Imperium, 10 from Aetas Aegis, 2 from Oculus Caelum, 30 from the Primera, 19 from the Hands of Divinity. The item passes with Primera support."

Yoshika turned to the old man, who looked on at the proceedings, "What does it mean "With Primera Support"?

"That means, takes effect immediately, in simple terms. If the Primera didn't support it, then it still passes, but it needs the Grand Wizard support before moving on. The Grand Wizards tend to be harsh on the Diaspora, but that's because they tend to have ideas that don't work with the situation."

"Oh... So I'm part of the MA now?"

"That's correct."

"Ah." Yoshika nodded and watched the rest of the proceedings. Anna was correct in them being dreadfully boring, but the man at her side explained all the politics that go into each decision. It turned out being pretty interesting meeting if one cared about how the game was played and who were the players. The Primera is usually an infallible bloc of sure votes for one side, but some times, even the Primera gets splintered. Then it becomes a battle for which side gets the majority support of the Primera. Even the weaker parties can win something if they can argue their point well enough.

The Council meeting ended without further incident. It was a nice distraction from other pressing matters, and Yoshika felt more refreshed than ever.

"Huh, I wasn't really expecting you to come out more energetic than before." Anna said sheepishly. "Never liked the damn things."

Yoshika nodded. She knew the truth about Anna, but there was no reason to tell her now. "So where are we going next?"

"Ah, we're going to be splitting up. I have a feeling you want to do something useful in your time here, so I've already set you up with a few people to explain the jobs here in the MA. Have fun. Meanwhile I'll be discussing further steps with Mio and Minna about what they are to do once they return to the Allied Forces."

"Oh okay."

Anna turned to the mages next to them. "We won't need to be escorted for this, we're going to be staying in the Hall like the rest of the Grand Wizards."

Yoshika looked around. "If you don't mind, I would like to tour the place."

Anna nodded. "Well I guess you're safe here technically. Just don't be getting in trouble. The rest of you, you're done for the day. I'll talk to you at dinner."

The mages nodded. "We'll be in the Hall at dinner." They walked off back the way they came.

"Yoshika, the Hall is at the Back side of the dome. Be back by 7 or 1900 or whatever it is that tells you the time."

"Alright. I'll see you later." Yoshika walked down the streets of the MA. It was pretty much a town, but it seemed more isolated than other towns. Yoshika walked down a couple of town blocks and found herself in the middle of the commercial district.

"Get your wands here!"

"Potions for your needs! You there!" a man pointed at Yoshika. "You look tired. Here, have a sample of this energy potion made today. You just put this on..."

Yoshika immediately felt more energetic. "Whoa... That stuff works!"

The man smiled. "First time here?"

"Yeah."

"Well I'll have something new every day, so eventually, you'll just have to buy something!"

"I'll keep that in mind." She walked away.

The man called and beckoned her over. "Hey wait a moment. Come here a sec."

"Hmm?"

"The MA is always watching."

Yoshika didn't know if she should be surprised about that.

The man handed her a small box. She opened it. There was a brilliant blue ring shining inside. "This ring is a special ring. I'm giving it as a gift."

"Why?" Yoshika was suspicious.

The man shook his head. "Bring it to Anna, she'll know exactly what it is."

"How did you-"

"Never mind that. Just show her the ring." He ushered her out of the door. "Good luck Mage of Space."

Yoshika turned around quickly but the man had disappeared into his store.

"_Well, he was nice." _Caelum said.

_I guess... I don't know if he's actually trustworthy or not._

"_Still though, walking around by yourself in your condition isn't the smartest move."_

The Neuroi appeared again, _"It's not like she has some defenses."_

Caelum shrugged. _"I don't mean to offend you, but a random Neuroi attack here would make things worse."_

_Could you please stop? It hurts having to deal with 3 people at once in my own head._

"_We can take this outside." _Caelum suggested.

_What?_

"_And how am **I** supposed to get out?" _The Neuroi pointed out. _"It's not like I'm another part of her consciousness or anything."_

_Can we** please **save this conversation for later?_

"_Fine..."_ They both said. Their voices died down soon after. Yoshika sighed and kept moving.

The commercial district had some more interesting stuff. There were wand shops and the stereotypical magical town scene, but a small shop in the corner of the district had caught Yoshika's eye. It was a broom shop. Yoshika walked inside and looked around. There were different kinds of brooms lined up for each person.

"You know, you could try one out. They're rigged to stop at a certain distance from the store anyway."

Yoshika spun around looking for the voice. The source of the voice was a small woman walking around the store admiring her brooms.

"No thank you." Yoshika clearly remembered the last mishap with brooms.

"Ahh that's too bad. Broom riding is such a lost art now days." The woman returned back to her desk.

"Why's that?" Yoshika wondered if strikers had also come to the MA.

"Well for one, most people know about strikers, but those darned things are sectioned off for military use only. No, what makes me more mad are those portals."

_That's a new one._

"I mean seriously," The woman got off her chair and started walking around. "Portals used to be only used for movement across _countries_ and _oceans_!" She made sure to put extra emphasis on countries and oceans. "Now everyone and their yahoo can just pop a portal and move 10 feet if they could."

"Portals huh? I guess everyone wants things done faster." Yoshika mused.

"Haha. Like I could give a rat's tail about whether I can get to my destination easily. Everything used to be about the journey, and the wind in your hair, and just that feeling of being young again. Now its all going away because some idiot in Council thinks that we need to modernize." The woman was on a rant, Yoshika didn't know if she was making sense anymore or not.

"Well isn't that good? Technically, we are at war."

"Ahh yes, the war. I'll tell you what, it's not _portals_ that are going to win it. Bloody brooms and strikers will. I don't know what those idiots are doing anymore... Ah, I've been yapping too much. Is there something you liked? Or rather the question should be, why are you here, Striker pilot?"

"How did you-" Yoshika was surprised the old woman could tell who she was.

"If you're in a broom shop, but don't like the brooms, what other similar thing is there? Also, you're wearing fatigues."

"Well I was wondering... You said the military has access to them, how come I never see them here?"

The woman's eyes lit up. "Oh. Oh! Finally! Someone to reclaim his research!"

Yoshika was confused. Why was this woman happy someone asked about strikers.

The woman saw her confused face and said, "Tell me girl, why do you think there are so many brooms in this shop? They're just straw and a stick tied together."

"Well... assuming its the same with strikers, each part that goes into it creates a uniqueness to it."

The woman nodded. "And lets say this uniqueness, how would that work with soldiers here?"

"Magic is unique to each and every user, so... Ahh..."

The woman walked over and looked at Yoshika fully. "Now you're getting it. Now you probably know why there's no strikers here, though strikers are allowed."

"But why would no one build them then?" Yoshika had a bad feeling about that question.

The woman sighed. "Well you see, the last person to do that was a Fuso man named Miyafuji."

Yoshika feigned a stone face. "So what does that mean?"

The woman handed her a folder with her fathers picture. "Finish what he started, Yoshika."

* * *

**AN: OMG, The MA. FINALLY. I took too damn long to reach it. The story will now be a bit more of a two story thing. Schmidt still has Guardian to deal with, and Yoshika is now a "traitor" at the MA. Doubt they're gonna see each other for a long time. And look, her father's research again! Remember the last time I mentioned that? I don't. I really don't. Well this is a long chapter, and it was a pain to edit. Seriously, I spent more time editing than writing. Oh well. This is the final draft of it. I'll release a chapter again at some point. So yeah, just read the chapter and Review and Recommend! Oh, and this chapter is about 7k words. (The AN makes it about 7,015 words).  
**


	19. Observers

"What he started? What in the world did he start?" Yoshika asked.

The old woman thought for a minute. "Its been a while... Follow me."

Yoshika followed the old woman to the back of the store. The back of the room didn't look like much more than a regular office or study. A large poster detailed a familiar thing for her.

"A striker...?"

"Yes." The old woman started muttering words as the floor boards started shifting around.

"Well everyone already knows that..." muttered Yoshika. Her father was famous for his research on the striker in the 30s. "But why is this important?"

"Yoshika, I'll tell you something now. The MA has a hand in what happened that day." The floor boards stopped moving to reveal a staircase leading into a dark area. "If you stay here, you'll learn the truth soon enough..."

"What day", Yoshika asked.

The old woman shook her head and said, "You'll learn soon enough."

"I think I've had enough of this cryptic stuff. Tell me what the hell is going on."

The old woman looked hard at her. "Ahh, I only wish the truth was that simple. Stories are clean and easy truths, but reality will never be like that. There's always something hidden."

Yoshika sighed. "Fine. What's down there?"

The old woman shook her head. "I can't touch that place."

Yoshika raised her eyebrows. "Is there a reason?"

"I am only a gatekeeper. A familiar."

"A familiar?!" Yoshika had heard of them but hadn't had personal experience. Familiars were something she knew as a physical manifestation of magic, but usually they weren't autonomous outside the maker.

"Yes. Master Miyafuji created me as a protector of his research. Only those I deem worthy are allowed in. As a safeguard, if I ever step foot in there, I will be immediately replaced." the old woman said.

"What do you mean 'replaced' ?"

"As I am only a remnant of magic, I will be returned to the place where I was created. And this place will be taken over by the magic that emanates from the world."

Yoshika took a few steps down. She stopped for a moment. Then, she turned to the old woman and said, "Old woman... Are you sure about this?"

The old woman nodded. "I am the world, the protective force of the planet, Miyafuji Yoshika. The world has selected you. Do not doubt my judgment."

Yoshika looked down at the staircase and grimaced.

The old woman noticed and said, "Yoshika, do not doubt yourself. This is the threshold between the known and unknown. Steel your resolve. Master Miyafuji has left a final task to me. When you return, I will tell you what that is."

Yoshika nodded. She walked down a few more steps and asked, "Why has he left this for me? Why couldn't he deal with it?"

The old woman didn't respond. Yoshika turned around. The old woman's eyes closed for a minute in deep thought. The lines on her face seemed to move as she thought hard on her question. "Your father knew his limits. He always seemed to have a reason to do what he did, and this is no different. If he left this for you, then its something he always knew only you could do."

With those parting words, the lights of the stairs lit up as the floorboards closed up. The stairs went down to a basement door which was locked.

"Great. Now I'm stuck down here." Yoshika muttered as she looked back up at the entrance. She studied the door. There was a seal in the first panel of the door. Yoshika then looked at her hand.

_Oh... That's one way to hide an entrance, Dad._

Yoshika put a palm to the seal and pulsed magic through her hand. The seal lit up and emitted a bright light which extended to the stairs which revealed the seal again. The steps deformed and reformed to become a big stone door.

"Who dares to pass through the threshold?" a booming voice sounded.

Yoshika thought for a minute.

_Why am I here? What is my reason? What will be my fate? All these questions..._

"Someone who is here to learn?" she asked with trepidation.

"Here to learn the secrets of this world?" the voice sounded

"Yes."

"Will it be worth your life in the end?"

"Yes."

"Then it shall be revealed." The doors opened to show a massive library containing thousands upon thousands of tomes in shelves. Yoshika walked through the doors to find herself in a very familiar place...

It was the building where the Council was.

* * *

Schmidt flew back to R.E.C.O.N. base with the rest of his team. Guardian was waiting for him at the runway. Schmidt saluted as he got off the plane. "Guardian, sir!"

"Welcome back Schmidt. I heard everything. Come with me we have much to discuss."

Schmidt followed him to the briefing room they had started the operation in. "The director wants a full debrief. Go inside."

Schmidt entered the room to find the Director looking out of a window.

Without even missing a beat the Director said, "Captain. How goes it?"

"Firefox got away. We had major casualties during battle with her. It seems she had turned... Rampant. Like a Neuroi..."

The director didn't flinch. "Ahh..." He trailed off.

"Sir?"

The Director turned to face Schmidt. In the light, the director had Fuso features. However, his eyes seemed tired, broken probably. "Ahh. I'm sorry. I've had a lot on my mind. I'm assuming you know from the radio?"

"Ahh well..." Takashi had told him everything. Schmidt wondered if the Director would have even told him. "A little."

"Yes, yes, well place that fact out of your mind."

Schmidt was taken aback. "What are you saying sir?"

"Take everything out of your mind about Gallia. That's an order."

"But they attacked us! How could we let this slide?!"

"Schmidt, you're one of our best active combat officers. You know why." Schmidt frowned. He knew that the Allied Forces couldn't afford an internal civil war while being attacked by the Neuroi. But the fact that Gallian forces had just tried to kill him was still fresh in his mind. The Director continued to speak, "I need you to go with Guardian to investigate a site about 10 kilos from our site. There should be little, if any, Neuroi presence. Guardian specifically requested you though."

"Yes sir."

"Close the door when you're done."

Schmidt left the room. Guardian was looking at some papers. "What's this about 5 mages?" he asked.

"I didn't get a good look at them. They were protecting her and that's all I know." Guardian stared at him quietly and studied the paper.

"Alright then. We need to get moving. Grab your team and go."

"Sir, with all due respect, half of my team members are injured and fatigued."

"Yet you're still up. Fine, if you won't bring your team, then you will be the 'team'. Got it?" Guardian walked out the door.

"What the hell is that man thinking..." He muttered as he followed him out. As he walked out he told the radio person to page for all Zeros OK for combat to meet him in the Hangar.

All the Zeros he had were: Kaido, Bates, Alice, Justin, Korsky, and Anderson. "The Director sent us on a high priority mission to help Guardian investigate something in the area. I hope you all have new radios."

They nodded. Guardian walked into a waiting plane. "We're dropping into the area. Too hot for anything else. This is a no striker operation."

The group looked incredulously at Guardian. "Sir, are you asking striker pilots... to do what soldiers normally do?" Bates asked.

"There are strikers on the plane, you're dropping in with your strikers. However, in the event of danger, you need to 'dirty launch'." Guardian said.

"So launching using just our magic? Even if we're already depleted due to the fight with Yo- Firefox?" Justin said. Schmidt turned to look at Justin quickly, expecting him to say her name. Yet, he caught himself. Alice looked concerned about what Justin said. Schmidt was sure he was about to say 'Yoshika', but he stopped himself.

_Is it possible Alice and Justin are connected to Yoshika?_

"Hall, don't worry about it. Get on the plane, we leave in a few minutes. Radio control, come in."

"This is Radio Control Operator Adagio, Agent Guardian. I will be working on communications for this."

Everyone nodded. "All Zero units, your strikers are attached to your backpacks. This mission will be highly dangerous. Due to this, in the event of a 'dirty launch' one of you will be left behind. That person will fit all strikers and get them off the ground. They are not to be saved."

"I'll do it." Schmidt said.

Korsky tried to stop him, "But you're our commander, Schmidt! You're more valuable than the rest of us."

Guardian stopped Korsky. "Enough. He has made his decision."

Adagio continued. "Schmidt, you will be left behind. This is inevitable. Are you sure."

"Adagio, I'm not backing down."

"Roger. All Zero units, your objective is to assist and protect Agent Guardian. Use me for any communication with HQ."

Everyone got their packs and went into the plane. Justin muttered, "Twice in one day... What is that man thinking..."

Anderson quickly shut him up with a poke to the ribs.

Schmidt turned to Guardian. "What exactly is there?"

Guardian didn't respond. Schmidt was about to ask again when Guardian looked towards him and said, "A key to ending the war."

Schmidt nodded. "How?"

"I don't know. That's why we're going there."

Schmidt refrained from asking anymore questions for the rest of the trip.

The plane ride was uneventful. Adagio came on and told them to get ready for their drop.

"The drop point is below you. We can't risk sending another plane, but the way back is not hard to find. You are in the East Northeast direction. So head West Southwest to find HQ again."

Schmidt's group was ready. He turned to Guardian. "Guardian, go first, we'll follow the rear."

He put on his parachute and jumped out the plane. He landed in a green area near a river. The rest of the squad followed.

Guardian pointed towards a rock formation across the river. "There lies a ruin of a secret society. Historians say they were the first to use magic in a form usable by mere humans. My research into this society seems to be connected to the Neuroi."

Alice looked nervous. Her eyes darted back and forth. "Do you know how they're connected?"

Guardian shook his head. "I don't have the faintest idea. Lets move onwards.

The rock formation was peculiar to Schmidt. It emanated a magical aura, but there was something different, something... sinister.

"Alice..." Schmidt said slowly, "Where the hell are we..."

She looked at him, her eyes trying to tell him something, but he couldn't understand. She looked scared, as if they shouldn't be there. Schmidt turned to Justin, who also looked very nervous as well.

_Aetas. Where the hell are we?_

"_I don't know. It's not something familiar though."_

_I can tell. _

"_Better make a plan then..._"

_A plan for what? My funeral?_

"_Maybe."_

Although Schmidt had his reservations, he didn't feel in danger yet. Guardian stopped to examine one of the rocks. Schmidt walked over to see what he was looking at. It wasn't a rock, but actually a piece of a building with strange writing around it.

Guardian mumbled to himself, "So that's what it was..."

Schmidt looked around and surveyed the area. The area seemed to have been a circular building, with all the pillars being placed in a circular line.

"Schmidt, come here. The investigation starts in this area." Guardian walked to the circular area and started writing down things.

"Alice, get the group to set up a defensive formation. Stay low." Schmidt walked off towards the circle.

Alice turned back towards him. "Schmidt.", she said quietly.

He stopped. "What?"

"Be careful." she said.

A silence ensued between them.

"I will."

He walked towards Guardian who had opened a seal in the floor. "Schmidt, come here, we need to investigate deeper!"

"What does that mean?!"

"We're going into the portal!"

"WHAT?! ARE YOU MAD?!"

"On the contrary," Guardian took off his mask and showed a sinister smile. His light skin forced Schmidt to momentarily be taken aback. He was quickly grabbed and forced into the portal.

Guardian stared Schmidt deep in the eyes. "Listen to me Schmidt, this is the truth of the world. Let your eyes be revealed!

* * *

Yoshika walked through the library and stared at the countless number of books.

A woman appeared behind her. "Yoshika. Where are we?"

"Caelum?" Caelum had radiant pink hair. She was tall, and beautiful as well. She was wearing a white dress that flowed down to the floor.

"Yes. I am Caelum. It seems we have been separated."

"Yes... it does..." A voice sounded behind her. Yoshika turned to see a Neuroi girl sitting behind her. The Neuroi took her shape and form, but instead of human skin and clothing, there was just the natural black and red hexagons surrounding her body.

"So you must be the Neuroi." Yoshika muttered.

"You don't seem very happy about me, even if I just saved your life."

"Well, I've been fighting your kind for a long time now, so excuse me for not trusting you."

"Me specifically, or the deformations you consider the same as me?"

Yoshika and Caelum looked confused. "What do you mean, 'deformations'."

The Neuroi shook her head. "I don't know. I don't even know my name. But I know those _things_ aren't the Neuroi _I _remember."

"How do we know you're not lying?" Yoshika asked.

"She's not." A voice sounded in the library.

Yoshika quickly reached for her pistol. "Who was that?"

A man walked out of the shelves to their area. "Drop the weapon Yoshika. You are safe here."

She lowered her pistol but didn't put back in the holster. "How do you know?"

"This world is only an instance created for the one person that needs to know this information. You are the only one that will know this. There will be pieces of it around the world, but you are destined to know it all."

"Hold on, Hold on," Yoshika said, "When have I ever agreed to anything?"

The man sighed. "Destiny does not wait for your approval."

"I thought my father put me up to this."

"Your father only gave you the ability to learn in a controlled environment. You would have learned it sooner or later..." He turned to Caelum, "Right, Caelum?"

She nodded. Her eyes looked away from Yoshika's, trying to avoid her hard stare. "I would have told you at some point. But this is too early! We can't send her in this now!"

"Send me into what?!"

"We don't have time for this. The dark aura I have felt for over 2 decades now is stronger than ever. He's searching them out, and taking their power. We have to stop him now!"

Yoshika tried to get in between them. "Hey,before you guys-"

"We cannot just allow her to do this alone... We need Aetas..." Her face looked crestfallen.

"If Aetas is not here, then it is not your problem Caelum. I gave you this power for a reason. Both of you will change this world, but if Aetas does not understand the reasons, then he is your enemy."

"But we've been doing this since the beginning..."

The man closed his eyes and sighed. "I know that Caelum. I know. I've been watching the world since then."

Her eyes looked up at the man, expecting a miracle from him. He shook his head. "I've watched. But that is all I can do. I can only teach. Caelum, you of all people should understand this the best."

"But..." She stopped. Her hands were covering her heart, and she seemed to be about to burst into tears.

Yoshika put a hand on Caelum and said, "It will be alright. Aetas is with a friend."

She looked distant for a moment and mumbled, "He promised..."

Yoshika turned to the man who was waiting to move on. "Yoshika, I understand completely that you're forced into this ridiculous situation. However, the world is in grave danger. Multiple events are happening at the same time, and if the wrong person takes advantage of these events, the world will be destroyed."

Caelum came to again and said, "We were created because of the first instance of this phenomenon. We call these times "Singularity events" to describe the phenomena. In the first instance of the phenomenon, the world entered a period of accelerated growth. This was great, as farmers could make more food, and people were happy. However, during Aetas and my studies, we realized that the events could not last indefinitely, and that something had to be causing this. Sure enough, the mages of our era found out about it. They tried to weaponize it, and turn it into absolute power."

The man continued the story. "I couldn't let that happen. I turned myself into a human and tried to reason with them the dangers of tampering with the gods."

Yoshika quickly asked. "Who are you then? Are you like that old woman in the shop? Or are you a god?"

"I am neither. I am just the Observer. I only remember coming out to observe the world when it was created." The man quickly returned to the subject. "The mages did replicate the gods good will. However, it backfired just as I had warned. Caelum and Aetas were working on the reason for the events, but when the mages weaponized it, only they realized the danger they had created."

"It was Chaos." Caelum shuddered. "Pure Chaos."

"Chaos?" Yoshika asked. "Like as in people going mad? The world itself going crazy?"

Caelum shook her head. "No... You don't understand. The mages... in defiance of the gods, they weaponized their good will and created... chaos..."

The Observer nodded. "Chaos as a concept is relatively harmless. But when out in the open? Before I was able to seal it off from the area, the bodies of the dead were stacked 2 meters high... That day... it lives on in my memories."

"Caelum..." Yoshika asked. "What exactly happened...?"

She shuddered. "When it was released, it created a nightmare that only Aetas and I made it out of. Even then, we never forget. Chaos tortured us. All of the people in our town. In the world. We were tormented by chaos. The children went first. They disappeared into the hills a few days after. They came back... but... they were taller... no... they were strung out... Their bodies twisted into some freaked out mutation...!"

The Observer tried to stop her, "No, stop she doesn't need to know that!"

"She does damn it! If you're going to make her do this, then she has to know!" Caelum sat down. "They came back as one person... You could see their eyes everywhere, and each one, you knew which child that was. The parents all thought that freak was their child. They tried to hug it, but it wouldn't let them. No matter what they did, they just could not touch their children anymore. And do you know what it did, Yoshika? It laughed. It laughed in their faces and spit on the memory of the child."

Caelums eyes teared up at the memory. Yoshika stood stone faced, trying to imagine the sight. It disgusted her.

"It attacked our minds soon after. Everyone hadn't realized it had started to affect us until we noticed that we were always in eternal darkness. Then there was this unmistakable smell of blood, as if the very earth itself was bleeding out. People started seeing eyes growing out of the ground, things watching them, always watching."

The Neuroi put a hand on her shoulder and nodded. It seemed to sympathize with her.

"The last thing that finally destroyed us... was destroying the thing loved most. I... I saw many people take him from me... Aetas knows the story... He was killed trying to protect me from the madness."

"Aetas is a ghost...?"

The Observer nodded. "Caelum is too. You see, they all died. Or, at least, they were supposed to. As I watched Chaos spread and disappear, it left something behind. It was small and weak... but it was there. I quickly grabbed it, and used it on the two. It quickly disappeared, but these two were brought back. They were turned into something like me."

Yoshika sighed. "So Caelum and Aetas are what exactly to this world?"

"It seems we have been tasked with defeating Chaos." Caelum said.

"And how do I beat a metaphysical concept that seems to TURN MY BRAIN INTO MUSH?!" Yoshika shouted.

"That's where I don't know."

The Observer got up and grabbed a book. "Their task seems to be defeating Chaos. However, the issue is that the singularity event is starting to mirror the fateful day so many centuries ago."

Caelum shuddered. "Chaos will rise again?"

The Observer nodded. "Yes, someone is hellbent on using Chaos to recreate the events of that day."

Yoshika nodded. "So is this the truth the world wanted to show me?"

"Well... It's more like the truth has been revealed for a long time now... Isn't that right... Princess?"

The Neuroi spoke up next to Yoshika. "Observer, you know as well as I do that we should not reveal this until she is ready! The king will not be pleased."

"Wait-Wait-Wait. The Neuroi me is a _princess_?"

"Not just any princess. I'm the 3rd Neuroi Princess."

"Then why in the hell haven't you STOPPED THE WAR YET?" Yoshika shouted yet again.

The Neuroi sighed.

"If it was that easy do you really think that we would be talking like this now?"

"First of all, tell me, I'm not a doll or something, right? That would be a really horrible twist in this situation."

The Neuroi laughed. "No, no, it's not like that. Your father wanted to protect me, so he placed me in you. I was just a newborn at the time, so you and I grew up together. This also explains why you had so much magic potential."

Yoshika breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh that's a relief. So is that it?"

The Observer nodded. "There's one last thing. Yoshika, your father has unlocked the key. But you must open the door."

"What door...?"

The Observer moved to show a bright light. "This is the door of truth. Once you enter it, your destiny will be revealed."

"You people keep saying that. I'm tired of dealing in this. Why can't you just say it to me?"

Caelum tried to calm her down. "Yoshika, do you really think it is even possible to put into words?"

The Neuroi agreed. "Yoshika, there are times to talk, and times to learn. Whatever is there... it cannot be explained..."

Yoshika sighed and walked past The Observer. "I'm in no way willing to do this. You should know this now."

"Not many are." he said. "It's what you make of it that matters. You can still stop now."

"And let my conscience ravage me if I walk away from this? I know as well as you do that I'm not one to walk away from something like this."

The Neuroi laughed. "You've really matured quickly haven't you. Before you only helped your friends... Now you're helping on your own accord?"

Yoshika scoffed. "Don't write an epic about me. I'd rather not be the person who had a hand in destroying the world."

"Liar. You knew what you're getting into. You just didn't realize it until now."

Yoshika turned around."Realize what? That I'm probably the only thing stopping a world eating force? Great, grant me the key to every city, awards for heroism, the works. Because you know what?"

"What?"

"I've realized that I'm the only person that can do a damn thing. People don't matter. Just the end goal right? So you know what, screw them, I'll do what ever it takes to stop it."

The Neuroi snorted. "Don't spout that stuff at me. You're pissed off beyond belief. You don't want to be "the one", because you know people you care about will die for you. And if you fail... that's your biggest fear right? Not that you'll fail... but what will happen to the people you love when it's all said and done. You have no idea what will happen."

A long silence followed. Yoshika then said. "What the _fuck_ are you talking about?" She laughed and sighed. "Analyze me and my intentions all you want, but its not going to get us anywhere. You're right. I am scared. Scared for my family, my friends, everyone. But saying that I don't have the guts to be "the one"..."

She turned away. "Well... Then you're gonna learn a whole new side of me." She walked into the light.

The Observer sighed. "That Yoshika... Always stubborn..."

Caelum turned to him and said, "She's a lot like you and Anna right?"

He smiled. "It's been a while since I've seen her."

"You've been following us haven't you. I thought I felt your presence during the Council."

"Ahh, that was merely for fun. Shes much more devious than you expect. The MA will change for the better, with her as the catalyst."

The Neuroi sat down at the table. "With her stubbornness, she'll change the whole world."

The Observer sat down and brought out a small book. "What a mess. First that blasted Civil War, then the Neuroi wars, and now Chaos being unleashed? 3rd Princess, there must have been something going on back on your end. There's no way this was all coincidence."

The Neuroi shook her head, "I'm just a newborn. What are you talking about?"

The Observer stared her down. "Don't play around. Neuroi aren't born. They're created." 

* * *

**AN: Another chapter. This one was a hard one to write. It was mainly a lot of talking and not a lot of action, so I find that quite hard to write for some reason. I hope this puts more of a light where Caelum and Aetas come from, because they have an interesting backstory. Other than that, I think thats it. Short AN, but its a bit late, and I want to start working on the next chapter. Yadda Yadda, Review, Recommend, etc. ****  
**

**-Poke**


	20. Sympathizers

_Where am I... _

_It's all white..._

Yoshika opened her eyes and felt herself floating in space. Everything she could see was white, yet it was fitting for some reason.

"_Miyafuji Yoshika, Mage of Space. Hero of your Era." _ a voice sounded inside her head.

_Who... Who are you?_

"_It does not matter who it is. You need to recognize your destiny."_

_Okay... What is it?_

The white area started changing all around her. A world formed in front of her eyes.

"_The current world as it is is threatened by the one you call Guardian. He is your fated enemy, your paths are on a collision course._"

The world soon showed a city in flames and darkness all over. Yoshika saw dead bodies all over the place and a peculiar sight. It was a man flying across the buildings. "Is that..." She narrowed her eyes. "SCHMIDT?!"

"_The boy is at a crossroads. He will either turn against Guardian, or turn against you."_

_How can I prevent that? I'm branded a traitor._

"_I do not know. I only know the absolute truths about this world. You are the catalyst of change Miyafuji."_

Yoshika sighed. The world then changed and showed 2 people entering a portal.

_Guardian and Schmidt._

"_Correct. They have entered into the Chaos Rift. They will leave. But there will be something there that changes one."_

_What is it?_

"_I do not know. But Guardian will learn about The Singularity."_

_You don't mean... _Yoshika's mind raced. The Observer had mentioned that the singularity events were starting to coincide. It meant that the forces of the gods are starting to collect once again in the world.

"_You are a smart one. The Gods power is going to be hijacked. Miyafuji Yoshika, you will either be the recipient of this-"_

_Or Guardian will be. How long do I have?_

"_Their time in the Chaos Rift only teaches them the knowledge of the power. The Singularity itself will happen at a certain place at a certain time. It will happen when you are both there."_

_Why does it require both of us there?_

"_Chaos may be the weaponiziation of good will, but it is not evil. It is good will which had lost its way. Chaos became sentient during the massacre. It sealed itself off in the Chaos Rift and left Hope outside to save anyone it found."_

_That doesn't answer my question though..._

"_The question you are asking is already answered."_

_I still don't understand... _

"_As one of the heroes of our era, you have the god's blessing."_

_It explains why I need to be there. It still doesn't explain Guardian or Schmidt's place in all this._

"_Guardian is someone who has learned about the Singularity somehow. He seeks the catalyst. The princess."_

_So the Neuroi inside of me? She's a princess or so I heard from the Observer._

"_No Miyafuji... You are the princess."_

* * *

The darkness enveloped Schmidt and Guardian. He watched as the darkness formed into something tangible.

"Guardian... Where are we?"

"We are in the Chaos Rift. You will meet the creator of the Neuroi here."

"WHAT?!" Schmidt tensed himself up. He wasn't expecting such a big battle at the moment.

"Calm down. It isn't a bad thing."

The darkness formed into a man. It was a man who resembled the director a lot...

"Why are you here." it said.

"The Singularity is coming. I want to know when and where."

"So you came to search me out." He turned to Schmidt.

"Hm. Why aren't you resonating with me? Tell me your name son."

"I am Schmidt. Squad Captain of R.E.C.O.N Zero Alpha." He didn't see the need to tell the rest of his name.

"Ahh... You are an honorable one. That's probably why."

"Why what?"

"Never mind that," Guardian interrupted, "Where is it happening"

"I've been in here since that day. Considering you found me... You probably know about it."

"The Reckoning...This was the revenge of the gods?"

"..." The man didn't say anything.

Schmidt felt a pang of regret. It seemed like this man was connected to this 'Reckoning'. "Maybe it isn't a good idea to pry..."

"No. Tell me the truth. Is the Neuroi just the people you created from that day? Did you recreate them from your image? Why are you attacking the other world!" Guardian was becoming more angry by the second.

The man raised his clouded hand. "Really now. Are you blaming me for this?"

"You created the Neuroi, and the heroes right?"

"I have."

"Then why are we fighting against each other? Is this just a game?!"

"It seems so. But your goal was in vain. The Neuroi are coming this very second. They've noticed you've entered my domain."

Guardian smirked. "Fine. But before then... Schmidt. Shoot him."

"What?!" Schmidt said.

"I said 'Shoot him'," He turned away. "Or I will shoot you myself."

Schmidt pulled out his gun. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be." The man opened his arms and let Schmidt take aim.

Schmidt shot him. However, instead of dying, the man blasted him with a force never felt before. He felt something awaken inside of him and his skin started turning black. He then went unconscious. The man walked up to Schmidt and placed a palm on his forehead.

The man entered his mind and said, _"Schmidt... I've given you a piece of myself. You are now part Neuroi. Reverse my mistakes._"

The man looked up at Guardian. "You really shouldn't have done that. The Singularity event will backfire. Your plans will fail. Turn back on this path now."

Guardian turned and took off his mask. "Are you sure?" He turned into his grotesque Neuroi form.

The man raised his eyebrows. "Ah... The Guardian of the Temples..."

"You remember me now... I fully intend to finish our job. I still remember everything we did. I also know why we failed."

The man tensed up.

Guardian smirked. "I messed up the spell. I changed some of the runes before we started. The reason you are like this is because of me."

The man's face relaxed. "Ahh. So everything leads to you."

"The Neuroi are under my control now."

"So it seems. They don't seem to be listening to me."

"You're my prisoner now."

"And yet... you still don't understand the Singularity event won't happen without her."

"Her?"

"Yes, you need that girl to come to do anything. Otherwise... there won't be enough divine power to harness the rest."

Guardian smiled and started laughing. "Thank you." He picked up Schmidt and walked away. The man stared off into the distance and sighed.

"His overconfidence will be his downfall..."

* * *

Yoshika reeled from the revelation. _Her? A princess?!_ She laughed at the notion.

_So what is my father? The king of what?_

"_Miyafuji, some things are best left for him to answer."_

_He's... alive? _

"_Yes. He lives on, but he is trapped somewhere."_

_Where?! Can you tell me?!_

"_I can, but I choose not to. I only deal in the absolute truth, and this... this is something beyond me. You will understand in due time..."_

_You selfish piece of... Why even bother. _

"_I am sorry. I can only speak for you and your future."_

_I think its time I left._

"_Then let it be so."_

The world swirled around Yoshika until she found herself in the library again. The observer and the Neuroi girl were drinking tea at a table. The Observer looked up. "You're back."

"I am. And we need to leave."

"Ahh. Well Neuroi, this chat has been very interesting. But I believe it is time for you to go."

She put her cup down and nodded. "It is. Yoshika, did you learn anything?"

She shook her head. "Nothing definitive. Lets go."

The Neuroi nodded and headed towards the door.

"Miyafuji, you have been given a lot of information with no end." The Observer called out. "Let it be known that it will not be for naught. The Truth always comes out, but not in the most obvious ways. Remember this."

Those were his parting words as she walked through the door. The staircase reformed as she walked back up the stairs.

"Oh Yoshika, you're back." the old woman said. She had been sitting at the register reading a book.

"Yeah. It wasn't as enlightening as I had hoped." She looked around. "Did nothing happen when I left?"

"The space you were in was outside of time itself. Basically, you were only gone for about 30 seconds."

"Ahh... Can I see the striker now?" The research awakened Yoshika's curiosity.

The old woman thought for a second. "Very well." She walked towards the back and called out, "Yoshika, come over to the office for a moment."

Yoshika went into the store's office. Her mouth dropped at the amount of papers surrounding the office. In the middle was a magical seal surrounding what looked like a striker plan. "Wha... What the hell is this?! This wasn't here before!"

"I only removed the seal upon this area. It hides your father's final work. He was in England researching a new part when the event happened. The MA sent teams to search for any trace of him, but he had disappeared. He became a taboo topic soon after."

Yoshika picked up a piece of paper trying to decipher its contents. "Why would he be taboo?"

"The MA had many reasons, but before he left, he sealed this area. Even the most skilled trackers couldn't find it."

Yoshika looked further through the notes. "Huh... The striker material is foreign... I've never heard of this stuff before..."

"Do you understand why the MA wanted to stop this?" the old woman said.

"No. I don't. I only want to know why it surrounds this striker." Yoshika placed the papers down and looked at the striker. It seemed to have a lot of parts. "This striker is peculiar. It doesn't follow any of the current laws of striker building."

"Yoshika. Hold on." The old woman closed her eyes. Yoshika looked up. A chill went down her spine.

"Something... Somethings out there." A cold creeping feeling surrounded the area. Yoshika dared not to breathe.

"Yoshika. Take the plans and run. I'll stall."

"Are you sure? I can try to push them back." Yoshika felt the ring vibrate.

"Yoshika, don't tell me you have a ring on you."

"..." Yoshika sighed. "I do."

"Ahh. I can't blame you. You didn't know." A blast appeared at the door. "Crap. Not much time. Yoshika, take what you can and run. Anna will explain later!" The old woman ran towards the entrance and summoned up a shield.

Yoshika nodded and took the plans. "How will I grab all these notes?!"

The old woman looked back and said, "The notes are useless!"

"What?! Then what the hell have I been reading?!"

Another blast shook the place. "Ugh...," the old woman shook. "Its a misdirection. His notes lie in a different place. Now go!"

"Where will I find this place?!" Yoshika shouted.

"You've already seen it!" The old woman replied. Another blast rocked the shop.

"Quickly, leave!" the old woman shouted. Her form was starting to weaken. Yoshika opened the door when another explosion shook the place. She turned around. There stood a man who looked extremely familiar.

"_Is that... Grand Wizard McDowell?!"_ the Neuroi shouted.

Grand Wizard McDowell had a different look that Yoshika had expected. He was young for a Grand Wizard, and he was wearing dark robes with an emblem shining on the side. "Where are the files?" he asked slowly. His voice was deep, it showed a strong form of authority behind it. He turned to the back room. "We know it's there." Yoshika quickly ran out the door.

The old woman scoffed. "Like you're going to find anything useful."

"That is for me to find out Familiar. Also, where is the Mage of Space, we followed her here."

"She is gone. And so will you!" The old woman threw spells at the entourage surrounding her and was soon standing alone with the Grand Wizard.

He laughed and sighed. "So you intend to stall for her. What is Miyafuji Ichiro trying to hide from us... that only his daughter could see?"

"Is that really your business now? You couldn't stand it when he wouldn't divulge his research to you. What else if you find his daughter?"

He turned to the old woman and stared her down. Despite his hard stare the old woman dropped her stance and patted him on the shoulder. "McDowell, you are too kind. If you really did want to find her, then I would have been eliminated immediately. Instead, I get this stare." She grabbed a broom and started sweeping. "You and I both know what happened with the Council years ago."

He sighed and sat down. "Familiar, why do you oppose me so? I'm only trying to do my job for the best of the MA."

"Not everything has to be known. Do you not trust him?"

"I still do. If there's anything I remember him for, its loyalty. I don't think he's intending to betray us. Yet, that research is dangerous. He's meddling with gods now."

"Is that why you came? To stop Yoshika from destiny?"

McDowell raised his head. "Destiny? I only know from legend that the Mage of Space and the Mage of Time are touched by the Gods... but are you saying that..."

The old woman nodded. "Yes. Miyafuji himself said that he will not finish this. He has not been touched by the Gods."

"So his daughter is the only recipient of this... What a troublesome man. Familiar, I have one question."

The old woman stopped sweeping. "What is it?"

McDowell stood up and woke his comrades. "If destiny compels her to do this... then what is mine?"

"I am only a familiar. I can't answer that for you."

McDowell laughed and walked out the door. As he left, he called out, "Then, what if I make my own?"

"I thought this was a one question thing?"

"Do you think destiny can be forged?"

"It might. Destiny is the end. Your path is determined by you."

McDowell nodded and walked away from the area. A soldier behind him asked, "Sir why didn't you eliminate that familiar?"

"Nothing special. She's useless now, her jobs done."

"So would that mean..."

McDowell stopped. "I can't say what would happen... But there will be change. Its inevitable. I just hope we are strong enough to withstand it..."

Yoshika ran off towards the area Anna had specified. The ring vibrated with power as she burst through the doors with plans in her hands.

"What the hell?" someone shouted as Yoshika stopped to take her breath.

"Yoshika? Why are you out of breath?" Anna asked as she walked out.

"Things happened." Yoshika said quickly. She had run from one district to another. "There's something weird going on here Anna."

"Tell me something I don't know. What in the world made you come in like that?" she asked. Before Yoshika could reply she said, "Never mind. Prying _ears_ need not listen to this." Anna said sternly at the group hiding behind the door. "Oi, you're supposed to be guarding people, not eavesdropping. Don't let me catch you." The group shuffled away from the door. Anna shook her head and brought Yoshika to a secluded room. "Alright, what is it?"

"I was walking around the Business District when someone gave me this." Yoshika held out the vibrating ring. Anna's eyes widened.

"W-Where did you... Yoshika... you-" Anna sputtered. Her normal composure was missing as she looked nervous.

"Anna... What is this? It almost got me killed. The old woman told me to run here as quickly as possible."

Anna stared deeply at the ring. As she placed her hand over the ring, her eyes widened with fear. "Yoshika... tell me... was this woman... a Familiar?"

"Yes. She was."

Anna took her hand away. "That woman is no ordinary familiar. She is the MA's Guardian."

"Wait, what do you mean? She said she's fueled by my father's magic."

Anna nodded and replied, "Yes, but there's more to her story than she reveals. She is a guardian familiar, only magical beings of great power can conjure those."

"So... Is my father some sort of supernatural being?" Yoshika asked cautiously. It seemed unlikely he was.

"No. Thats not it." Anna said quickly. She rubbed her head. "He's not a regular human though. Maybe you already know that. Don't answer. I don't want to know."

Yoshika frowned. "Then why the hell is my father a taboo around here?! What did he do here?!"

Anna sighed. "You know as well as I do that I don't follow MA politics."

"No I don't Anna! I don't know _anything_ about this place! I'm being dragged around by a string here by people who say they know what the hell is best for me and then they get me pulled into this?! I want answers dammit!" Yoshika shouted.

Anna slammed her fist on the table. "Enough! I know that you're frustrated with the way your life has turned out, but it won't get any better by shouting at me. Are you done?"

"Hell no I'm not!" Yoshika snarled back. "I have two personas lying within my subconscious, each one with a different life story, and a different purpose. I'm mediating that, along with Guardian, along with the 501st, and now this crap! You think I'm frustrated? No, I'm fucking furious!" She breathed out in anger. Anna let her continue. "I maybe a hero, I might not actually be _human_, but goddamn it, I'm still human!" Anna noticed a change in the air around Yoshika. Magic was starting to leak out around Yoshika and affect things around her. The ring started to vibrate at a more violent pace.

"Yoshika, this might not sound like the best advice from me, but you need to calm yourself." Anna said slowly. She wanted to avoid angering her further, but she still had to deal with her wrath.

"I'm not your plaything! I asked for my magic back, but this is the price I had to pay! I'm now battling the gods themselves, and I can't get an answer to simple questions! Who am I?! What am I?! I don't know anymore! I'm doing this for the sake of the world, and yet the world won't give me something in return? Does everybody here pity me or something?! Just because I lost my magic doesn't mean I useless! Now that I have it back, I'm being thrown this and that without a godforsaken reason, and when I ask, I get nothing?! What the hell is that?!"

Anna finally snapped at Yoshika. "Yoshika, concentrate! I need you to calm down! This isn't normal of you!"

"Oh really now Anna?!" Yoshika threw a fist at her in anger. Her mind was blank. She was enveloped by rage.

"Yoshika, I'm sorry." Anna dodged the punch and quickly knocked her out. She finally took the ring from her hands.

"Why is my past haunting me again after all these years..."

A MageKnight burst into the room. "We heard the shouting all the way in our quarters! What happened?!"

"Yoshika's unstable. It's as I had feared. The Neuroi and her are mixing together."

"Shall we bring her out of the city?"

Anna shook her head. "No, she is unskilled. The MA needs to train her immediately. Her frustrations are only a sign she's under increased pressure."

The MageKnight nodded. "Shall we train her to be one of our medics?"

"No." Anna turned to MageKnight. The plans Yoshika held unfolded. Anna took a long look at them and said, "Get me the Grand Wizards."

* * *

_Ugh... What the hell happened..._

"_Yoshika... that outburst...", _Caelum said slowly.

_I don't know what that was. It just started coming out._

"_Don't tell me the Neuroi and you...", _Caleum said.

"_No, none of that was my doing. Shes becoming like me, but in the cunning and brutishness aspect. I'm pretty sure that outburst wasn't me.", _the Neuroi said.

_In any case... I'm unconscious now. I hope Anna isn't mad._

"_Doubt it. She thinks its my doing no doubt.", _the Neuroi sighed._ "Also maybe its time I told you the truth."_

_You don't need to. I'm apparently the princess. _

"_No. That's only half of it."_

_What do you mean? _

"_You're the princess, no doubt, but from where..."_

Caelum asked,_ "Is it possible that its connected to Chaos?"_

The Neuroi replied,_ "Neuroi and Chaos are connected."_

_So... I have Chaos inside of me? Then why am I not attacking other humans? _

"_I have no idea... From what I remember, we had a command structure. That's why we use the hives."_

_And destroying the hives stops the Neuroi... Ugh... this is confusing. _

"_Yoshika, it's better to ignore the Neuroi for now. The Singularity is your biggest issue."_

_I'm not even close to ready either. Do you know when it will happen?_

"_It doesn't matter when, it's where. Weren't you listening?" _the Neuroi said.

"_It won't happen until you and Guardian himself are there at the same time." _Caelum said._ "You still have time to get ready. Guardian still needs more time it seems."_

"_It's not even that... Schmidt is resisting Guardian. That's his biggest problem. If Guardian can't get Schmidt under control, he won't make his move." _

_How long do you think that will take?_

The Neuroi thought for a second. _"Depends on his will power. You know him better than any of us."_

"_Aetas is also there as well. He'll be able to do something."_

"_But... It's only a matter of time. Yoshika, you need to do something before he turns." _

_I know... I know... It's just been so confusing these days. My father... Schmidt... Everyone... It's not the same. I even started going crazy in front of Anna... Am I really fit for this?_

Caelum reassured her,_ "Yoshika, heroes aren't perfect. You are a hero of this era. You are also human. The pressure gets to people. They will understand. However, you have a duty to everyone as well. Your job is to protect everyone. If you have the will to do that, you are a hero."_

_And yet... I don't feel like one. This is the path I've chosen. I hope you guys can help me._

"_I will be with you until the end." _Caelum said.

_The Neuroi added, "As will I. We are all one. You are us."_

_Thank you._

Yoshika opened her eyes. She had laid in a soft bed for a little while. A MageKnight noticed and walked over.

"You were out for a long time. Anna decided to send everyone to sleep."

"So why are you awake?"

The MageKnight laughed. "It's my shift. I can't just leave you alone."

"Ahh... Did Anna go to sleep?" Yoshika sat up in the bed.

"No. She had an emergency meeting to go to. She'll be back in a little while."

The MageKnight sat down and started reading a technical book. Yoshika got up and walked over to see what he was reading. It was a book about strikers. "What is the MageKnights doing with Striker books?"

The MageKnight looked up and sighed. "Command wants us to switch from brooms to strikers."

"Why is that?"

"Command thinks we're behind in the war. While our brooms have helped us on occasion, we usually are late to things. So, now they want us to get strikers. They decided this model is the best."

Yoshika looked at the model. "Briston Bullpup ..." Yoshika sighed. "Is your Command full of idiots?!"

"Wha?! This is apparently the best striker for our uses!" The MageKnight showed a pamphlet that was clearly over a decade old.

"You guys don't get mail often do you?"

"Once in a while. The outside world usually leaks in at some point."

"Let me tell you right now, the model you're using is over a decade and a half old. We've advanced beyond that."

The MageKnight laughed. "Humanity hasn't been researching magic as long as we have. How do you expect that they would have built better things with magic than we have?"

Yoshika had no response to that. She knew about how strikers worked, but didn't know enough to explain the magic behind it. "Well..."

The door opened. Anna walked in with Grand Wizard McDowell. "..." Yoshika closed her fists.

"Whoa, Yoshika, calm down. He won't attack."

"I saw him... I saw him there!" Yoshika shouted back.

Anna stood between McDowell and Yoshika. "Yoshika, he knows everything."

"Knows what?!"

McDowell pushed aside Anna. "Yoshika, what happened in the shop is not connected to you. It's connected to the ring."

Yoshika relaxed herself. "The ring?"

McDowell showed her the blue ring she had received. "This ring is your fathers. It resonates with emotional power and outputs magical power based on that. He created it while researching with the MA. When the ring was activated, we had to investigate. However the old woman was protecting the research. From your point of view, we were trying to attack her, but we only wanted to know why you had the ring."

"Lies... all of them. You're after the research."

McDowell laughed. "Yoshika, if we were after the research, then we would have gotten help from our contacts outside."

"Then why is your MageKnight division using decade old strikers?!" Yoshika pointed to the old book.

"That's the most recent research we've been able to get our hands on!"

"ITS OVER 15 YEARS OLD! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL THEM?!"

McDowell grimaced. "Yoshika... are you telling the truth?"

Yoshika did not expect this from him. McDowell was a man of authority, but his face showed pure concern. Anna tried to defuse the situation yet again. "McDowell it is as she says. The MA is woefully behind in striker technology."

"Ahh..." He said.

Yoshika extended a hand. "I've worked with the Allied forces in experimental and special force striker equipment. I'm willing to help you."

McDowell stared at her hand and said, "Thanks, but you're untrained. I can't have you leading a division based on my judgment. You need to prove yourself."

Yoshika laughed and put her hand down. "Already he's more reasonable than General Eisen."

"Eisen's a good friend of mine. He has his reasons for putting you in certain positions."

"So I became head of the Research Division for a reason?"

"Yes. I know that you have knowledge, but I want to know if you can lead. I'll put you in for MageKnight training immediately. I hope you can handle it."

"Wait- Hold on just a second here... When did this happen?"

"Anna and I came here to ask you this actually. The Grand Wizards and the Primera wanted you to be a figurehead leader. However, Anna convinced us that you are so much more. Now I'm convinced you can lead us into a new era."

McDowell lowered his head in deference to Fuso traditions. Yoshika couldn't help but feel flattered. "I accept. However... I want to be treated like a recruit. I want to prove myself before I get thrown in the fire."

McDowell beamed. "The MA has treated everyone as equals. You are no different, MageKnight."

"I'm not a MageKnight yet. I also want to get another striker model than this piece of crap."

Anna interrupted their negotiations. "Yoshika, I'll try to get them to approve your request, but I think its best served if you focused on training for now. I don't want you thinking about strikers while we train you. Got it?"

"I guess..."

McDowell turned to leave. "Davies. Throw the book away. I'm sending out a mass communication to all MageKnights that striker discussion has been tabled. Everything said in here stays in here. Got it?"

"Yes sir." He turned and saluted McDowell.

Anna also turned to leave. "Yoshika, get some rest, you're going to need it. Davies, please get some sleep. All shifts are canceled."

"Yes, Ma'am." Everyone left the room and closed the door. Yoshika was left alone in the room.

"_A MageKnight? Yoshika, you seriously seem to get some crazy positions.", _the Neuroi joked.

_I don't choose these things, they come to me._

"_Well. Get some sleep. You should clear your mind too."_

_Ha, if I could get rid of you two I would._

"_I meant everything not sentient."_

_Yes, Yes. Good night._

"_Night."_

Yoshika turned off the light and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Schmidt woke up in the field with his team around him.

"How long have I been out?", he asked.

"Maybe 20 minutes. Guardian's been busy around the area. He said to leave you until you woke up.", Justin said.

"Alright... Well we should stay in standby until he wants us to return." Schmidt said as he pointed out the positions.

Guardian came back a few minutes later. "Schmidt, we're going back to base. Get the team ready to go."

"Yes sir." The team behind him got ready to leave as a bullet hit the ground near them.

"What the..." Schmidt said.

A bullet whizzed by his head. "GET DOWN. EVERYONE SEARCH FOR THE SNIPER!"

Everyone got their weapons out and ran for cover. Schmidt hid behind a large ruin. He turned on his communicator. "Radios on. All communication is radio communication from now on. Guardian, what's your status."

"I'm fine." Guardian said.

"Everyone else, chime in."

Everyone quickly called in and the radio went silent again.

"Adagio, you hearing me?"

"Loud and Clear. Active radar has been activated. We have backup ready just in case. Dirty Launch is not cleared. I repeat, Dirty Launch has not been cleared."

"Thanks. Do we have any patrols in the sky?"

"Patching you through."

"R.E.C.O.N. Lambda Patrol C, Captain Schmidt. What do you need?"

"Lambda, I need a pass over on our position, can you do that?"

"Roger."

Two strikers flew by as they scanned the area.

"You're-" The radio was cut short as a shot hit one of the patrols. "Fuck, I'm hit, I'm hit!"

The striker fell deep into the woods.

"Damn it. Did you find out where it came from?!" Schmidt shouted back.

The other patrol called in, "Yeah, its in the woods beyond the river. I'm retreating, backup is on the way."

"Roger. R.E.C.O.N. Zero requesting permission to rescue downed Striker."

"Permission granted. Guardian is slowly retreating to base. Proceed with Caution."

"All Zero units, follow me."

Schmidt quickly ran from cover to a tree near the forest. The rest of the squad followed. "I'm going on point. Cover me."

Schmidt ran from tree to tree. He waited for a second, then called his team over. As they crossed into the darkness a machine gun ripped through the darkness.

"RETURNING FIRE!" Schmidt began shooting his rifle towards the machine gun fire. Korsky climbed a tree and spotted 2 silhouettes in the trees.

"Schmidt, 2 in the tree in the far right!" Schmidt turned and quickly shot at the people hiding there. They fell out on the bushes. Schmidt moved up and waited to hear reloading of a machine gun. Alice ran up next to him.

"Can you get a clear shot on him?"

"No. Also, you're kinda right on top of me." Schmidt was trying to avoid touching Alice anywhere awkward.

She blushed and scooted over. "Sorry."

"It's fine. Did you see where she fell?"

"Deeper in. We're about 200 meters away."

"Alright. I'm moving up. Cover me."

"Got it."

Schmidt ran towards the next tree and waited. He took a breath and jumped towards the next one. A machine gun ripped through the forest and started pounding on the tree. "Korsky do you see him?!"

"He's on the ground! Alice, you have a clear shot!"

A shot rang out and the machine gun stopped shooting. The rest of the squad ran up to where the machine gun was. "What the hell..." Justin said.

The man lay there with a bullet in his head. He wore regular civilian clothing. The sight confused every one there.

"It's... a farmer?" Alice said.

"But I thought the Neuroi depopulated this place..."

A voice sounded from above the trees. "It still is. However, we feel that the Neuroi's version of government is better than yours."

"Who are you?!" Schmidt shouted.

"We are the Sympathizers. We fight for the Neuroi and liberty."

"You call this liberty?!" Korsky shouted back.

"They let us live in freedom! We don't have to worry about anyone! As long as we don't do anything against them, they don't attack us!"

"Do you know how many of us they have killed?!" Alice shouted

"We do not care! Leave this place, oppressors! We have your friend! _She_ is not doing well..."

"Give her back! What did she do to you?!" Schmidt said.

"We can treat her! But if you don't leave now... Who knows what will happen..."

"Do you promise this?"

"We maybe enemies, but we are not heartless. She is our prisoner! Final warning, leave now!"

"...Retreat." Schmidt said.

"What?! Are you insane?!" Bates said. "We can't leave friends behind!"

"She's in better hands now." Schmidt shouted into the trees, "I want proof you'll treat her properly!"

"Take her dogtag!" The dog tag landed on the ground in front of Schmidt. "We don't know she's military now."

Schmidt looked at the dogtag.

Sergeant Chloë Peterson. Liberon Striker Force 3rd Division, Sigma Squadron.

Alice looked at the dogtag. "Huh... I think I remember her. Her and 4 other girls got in some big trouble for destroying a building..."

"Now is not the time to be reminiscing, Alice." Justin said as a voice rang out again.

"We are only defending our land! Leave now or we will not be so kind to your friend."

"Zero, retreat now. All units are to retreat. No questions." Schmidt took the dogtags and backed out of the forest.

"What the hell are you doing Schmidt?!" Bates shouted.

"Bates, we can't be expected to win in that situation. If we kept fighting, they would have killed her or worse. You need to understand that we need to protect our friends." Anderson said as he turned around to leave.

Kaido quietly said, "He's right. While its frustrating we had to leave, they are only protecting themselves from us. They even said that if she isn't military they would treat her. We'll come back for her."

"We have to." Schmidt said.

"Sympathizers... I've never heard of them before..." Alice said.

Schmidt sighed. This was another enemy for him to face. This time, they were humans.

* * *

**AN: Writing. Rewriting. Writing. Rewriting. Ugh. If I had a dollar for every time I rewrote this chapter Id be able to get a new video game.  
**

**Anyway, I tried my best to keep it interesting! I'm really hoping the pacing is alright. Schmidt may have the less plot intensive side of the story, but he does have to deal with a new enemy. The "Sympathizers" as I have called them. You can imagine them a lot like rebels that like having no structure to society. Yoshika on the other hand has gone through a lot of changes, and the frustration is finally getting to her. No answers and a lot of questions, who wouldn't be going nuts now? Oh well.  
**

**That's it for me. Im writing this at 1am, so I need some sleep. Review,Recommend, yadda yadda. I'm going to bed now.  
**

**-Poke.**


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